Dragon Ball Z - Under The Dome
by The Freethinker
Summary: Inspired by Stephen King's novel. On his way back home, Gohan finds himself trapped in Satan City as an invisible barrier appears out of nowhere, isolating the city from the rest of the world. Along with Videl, Erasa, Sharpner, and a frustrated Vegeta, he struggles to find a way out as the town slowly falls into chaos. Will he still be able to hide his secrets in this new scenario?
1. Trapped

Author's note: this is my first attempt at writing a fan fiction, so reviews and criticism are highly appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z, or any of the characters, but I guess you already knew that, right? Moving on.

**Chapter One: Trapped**

Son Gohan let out a quiet yawn as his head was resting on his hand, his eyes focused on the clock hanging above the teacher's desk in front of him. It was five to three.

_Come on, just five more minutes..._

It had been a rather boring Monday morning: Videl's watch didn't set off once, and all lectures that day were so easy for him, he'd tried to get some sleep; but, with Erasa chatting and gossiping next to him, it just proved to be impossible.

He was particularly tired that day; in the last week, crime had hit Satan City real hard, and so Gohan was forced to maintain an almost constant presence as the Great Saiyaman to fight it off, even at night. He'd only managed to sleep a few hours in the morning before waking up for school, and now sleep deprivation had caught up with him. Gohan couldn't wait for the lesson to finish, already thinking about his cozy, warm bed; after all, Satan City could survive without his help for once, right?

"Hey Gohan,are you all right?" Erasa suddenly asked him.

"Yes, I am."

"Are you sure? You haven't spoken a word all day!"

"Yes; I'm just very, very tired, I almost didn't sleep at all last night."

"Up all night doing your homework, right Brains?" Sharpner was leaning back on his chair with hands behind his head, and had just overheard the little discussion.

"Yeah, sort of." Gohan retorted, not even turning his head.

"Oh, give him a break, Sharpner." Erasa intervened. Sharpner grinned, then turned back staring at the teacher, pretending to be paying attention.

Just then, the school bell finally rang.

"...and that is all for today. See you tomorrow for your English test! And don't forget to bring your own dictionaries!" the teacher said as loud as possible, while the students started getting up from their chair and packing their stuff.

Gohan intentionally stayed behind to avoid the swarm of boys and girls headed to the exit, sensing an incoming headache, but as he was getting up, Videl approached him.

"Hey, Gohan."

"Hey."

"Quite a peaceful day today, isn't it? Save for Sharpner being a jerk, as usual."

"It's ok, I can handle him. I'm just really exhausted, that's all." He replied, as they descended the stairs and got out of the classroom.

"I've noticed it. Had a bad day?"

"Not really. I just had trouble sleeping, and spent all night staring at the ceiling."

"I see. You must be really, really tired..." she said, with a mysterious expression. Gohan felt her eyes watching him intensely, and started to feel slightly nervous.

"Yes. Why are you asking me anyway?" he asked, turning his head towards her. She had a strange look on her face, one she usually showed when she was suspicious about something.

"Oh, nothing...it's just that I've noticed you didn't run off to the bathroom today like you always do...and that usually happens every time I get called by the police, which also didn't happen today...quite a coincidence, huh?" she casually said.

Both Gohan and Videl stopped walking, as they just got out of the school's front door. Videl stared at him with her best inquiring glance, while Gohan resisted the urge to turn back and walk away from those painful, big deep blue eyes. Instead, he just put his hand behind his head in the infamous Son Family Grin, smiling nervously: "Yeah, life really is strange, isn't it?"

Videl kept staring at him strongly for a few moments; then, just as Gohan thought her glance was going to break his head, she finally spoke: "I know you're hiding something from me, Gohan, but sooner or later I'll find out what your secret is, that's for sure. See you tomorrow!" she added with a malicious smile. Then, she turned back and started walking on the opposite direction.

Gohan watched her as she disappeared around the corner of a large building, feeling the tension that had built up into him slowly fading away.

_Man, why is Videl so obsessed about uncovering my secret? What did I do wrong?_

For a moment, he actually tried to find an answer to those questions; but even the smartest teenager on earth was helpless before the mysteries of the female mind.

At last, he gave up, and decided not to think about it. Right now, he just wanted to get back home and sleep the whole day.

He walked into a blind alley not too far from there and made sure nobody was watching; then he raised his left hand, and pressed the red button on his watch. Gohan's body was wrapped in a blinding light for a few seconds; then, after a flash, the light disappeared just as it had come, revealing Great Saiyaman's green and black outfit.

Gohan lowered on his knees a little, then jumped and flew up in the air towards the mountains in the south. His built-in radio inside his helmet was still tuned to the local police frequency, so he turned it off.

_Ahhhh...the sweet sound of silence!_

He was flying above the quiet outskirts of the city, when he heard the noise of an aircraft approaching from behind. He turned his head, and was relieved when he realized it was not the feared yellow jet-copter belonging to a certain girl; instead, it was a small, white plane with an advertising banner attached on the rear; the plane followed him for a while, then turned left and proceeded on his way.

Gohan relaxed and closed his eyes, feeling the wind pressing against his face; he took a deep breath of fresh air, replenishing his lungs, and for a moment he felt as one with mother nature...

Then something hit him real hard on his face, and all of those pleasing sensations abruptly vanished, leaving him in a world of pain.

He fell several metres before realizing what had happened, and was not too far from crashing to the ground when he managed to stop his fall and stabilize himself. His head was hurting like hell, to the point he could not even organize his thoughts.

He tried to take off his helmet, but all his hands could grasp was just a piece of it; the remaining bits lay scattered on the ground.

_What...the...?_

He slowly descended, squeezing his head, and sat on the grass, waiting for the pain to go away. After a few seconds – or maybe minutes, he'd lost track of time, so he couldn't tell for sure – he rose to his feet and examined the surroundings: he was on one of the hills on the edge of the city, far enough from the highway that stretched on the valley below, and there was no one nearby.

He slowly raised his head as his eyes moved up, until he was looking at the place where, some good 20 metres up in the air, he'd apparently collided with something. There was nothing up there, so whatever it was that had hit him, had to be on the ground.

He lowered his gaze, searching for the cause of the incident in the area before him. Then he noticed something strange: there was a tree, not too far on the left, standing on the grass, cut right in half; and next to it, in a pool of blood, the body of a decapitated rabbit.

Was this somehow related to his flying accident? He doubted it; sure, he wasn't flying very high, but that tree was definitely not so tall. And besides, even if he'd accidentally bumped into it, he couldn't have split it in half like that. No, those two events were logically unrelated.

And yet, there was still something odd about it.

He hesitated for a moment, then started walking towards the fallen tree. As he made it to the place, he was impressed to see that it had not only been chopped in two exact halves, but that the cut had been performed vertically; as if an invisible guillotine blade had dropped over it.

Then his gaze focused on the dead animal nearby; the head had rolled a couple of inches away from the body, leaving a small trail of blood behind it.

And then Gohan saw the strangest thing: there were bloodstains, floating motionless in the air above the dead creature.

Gohan couldn't believe his eyes: was he having some kind of stress-induced hallucination?

He moved towards the dead rabbit, and, for the second time that day, he apparently struck an obstacle, and almost fell to the ground again. This time, his eyes were open, and he was sure there was nothing in the area ahead of him. Nothing.

_What the hell is going on? Why do I keep bumping into thin air?_

He raised his arm in front of him, and advanced until his hand touched something smooth and cold.

Something invisible.

Suddenly, he felt a slight electric shock in the palm, and quickly retracted his hand.

Was it some kind of magnetic field? He had to sort that out.

He hesitated a little, then decided to put his hand on that thing again. This time, nothing happened.

He moved closer, placing his other hand on the invisible barrier and pushed forward.

It didn't move.

He pressed harder and harder, using a great deal of his supernatural force, but to no avail; the glass-like wall was still there, in the same place.

_Just how tough is this thing?_

Suddenly, Gohan's watch started to behave strangely: the numbers on the monitor changed frantically, the backlight began to grow in intensity; and finally, with a high-pitched noise, it exploded in a cloud of smoke.

"What? How could that happen? My school uniform was still stored inside it!" he shouted.

_Great. Now what am I going to wear? I can't walk around in my Saiyaman outfit!_

Out of frustration, he threw a hard punch on the invisible barrier. One that could've easily destroyed a concrete wall.

To his surprise, the barrier was apparently unscathed.

"This is ridiculous!" he shouted, before delivering a barrage of punches and kicks on the seemingly indestructible wall. No matter how many times he hit the same spot, or how much strong his attacks were: the wall was simply not going down.

Realizing he was just wasting time, he pulled back and decided to change strategy. He powered up to his Super Saiyan form, then he brought his hands on the side, in a cupped stance, and started gathering ki. A small, blue energy ball appeared beneath his palms, increasing in size, until Gohan had accumulated enough energy to perform the attack.

"KA...ME...HA...ME...HAAA!"

As he thrust his arms forward, a bright beam of energy was released from his open palms, crashing against the hated barrier. The resulting explosion was so strong, that Gohan had to shield his eyes from the blinding white light.

When the smoke cleared, it was impossible to tell if the powerful energy blast had effectively destroyed the invisible wall, so Gohan ran straight towards the place where his attack had collided with the barrier.

When he clashed against it for the third time in less than half an hour, his heart skipped a beat.

"No...it can't be! That was one of my strongest attacks. Nothing could ever sustain such an amount of power!"

He fell on his back, totally astonished. The whole situation was too unreal: the invisible wall, the exploding watch, his severe headache...

He just wanted to sleep! What did he do to deserve all that?

He stared at the impenetrable barrier: he didn't know how far did it stretch or how tall it was, nor why was it even there in the first place; but he had the feeling he wasn't going to make it back home anytime soon.

Suddenly, he felt a familiar ki rapidly approaching, and before he could identify who it was, a short and muscular man in a blue jumpsuit appeared, floating mid-air behind him.

"I knew it was you. Quite a light show you put up earlier, Gohan."

"Vegeta! What are you doing here?" Gohan rose from the ground; he was still a Super Saiyan.

"Humph. Let's just say I'm helping Bulma with an important delivery no one else could perform." said the older Saiyan, slightly annoyed. "Not that it matters, now that this thing" he pointed his finger at the invisible wall "appeared out of nowhere."

"Wait...so you where already here before it showed up?"

"Yes. I was on my way back to West City, when I bumped into it. I tried to break through, just like you did, and got the same results." Gohan noticed his white gloves were ripped, showing his bruised knuckles.

"When did you ran into it?" he asked. Vegeta raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know. I guess it was sometime after three."

"That makes sense...right after I got out of school." Gohan muttered to himself.

"Is that even important? I think we should focus on how are we going to leave this pathetic city!" Vegeta was getting impatient.

"I don't know" he replied, "my guess is as good as...wait a minute! What if we just fly really, really high? I mean, this wall can't be a thousand feet tall, right?"

Vegeta stared at him with an angry face: "Are you plain stupid? This wall, as you call it, is surrounding the whole city in all its extent!"

"So what? It's still a wall, we can always fly up, like that plane over there." He said, pointing at the same white airplane he had seen before; now it was flying much higher than before, heading east.

"You're missing the point! This invisible barrier it's not just a wall! It's a dome!"

Gohan's mind froze as it registered what he'd just heard. He had never thought about that.

"What?"

But before any of them could say something else, a loud explosion tore the air.

Where only a mere second before the plane was flying, a great ball of smoke and fire had now taken its place. Burning pieces of the wrecked aircraft started falling, like small meteorites.

Gohan was horrified; Vegeta, however, didn't seem to care much about the terrible accident.

"Do you get it now? The invisible field it's a large dome. I personally reached the highest possible point, and I didn't even find a breach on its surface!"

"Do you...do you mean there's no way out?" Gohan asked, still looking at the explosion. But he already knew the answer.

Vegeta did not reply; his silence said it all.

They were trapped.


	2. Land of confusion

Author's note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

This is going to be a long story, but I promise you won't be disappointed. I still don't know how is it going to end, but I have a lot of good ideas; all I need is to write them down. However, if you have any suggestion, be my guest ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z, or any of the characters.

**Chapter Two: Land of confusion**

Videl Satan was taking a hot, relaxing bath while listening to the radio, when the transmission suddenly turned to static. She was slightly irked, as she enjoyed listening to her favorite music whenever she was in the bathroom; nonetheless, she ignored it, and kept bathing as usual.

She closed her eyes, as thoughts kept running through her mind. She could almost see them, dancing around in bright, unnatural colors, constantly shapeshifting into any form.

The past week had been quite intense, to say the least. A huge crime wave had swept the city, and she'd spent almost every evening aiding those incompetent police officers in bank robberies, gunfights, chases, and even in a difficult hostage situation. She had trouble keeping up with her studies and trainings, but that was overall acceptable.

What was unacceptable, however, was that stupid Great Saiyaman, the self-appointed "Guardian of the city", jumping into every fight she was in, pretending to help. How dare he! She didn't need his help, she was no damsel in distress! That was her job, her city; and she wasn't going to let that superhero freak come and steal what was rightfully hers!

People called him a hero, but she was suspicious. She didn't like his attitude and, even if he did save her life a time or two, she still didn't trust him.

But she had to admit: he was incredibly strong. She'd never seen someone lifting a bus, or deflecting bullets with his bare hands, all without even breaking a sweat. On top of that, he could fly; that's how he managed to rush to crime scenes in seconds and always be one step ahead of her.

That was why she had vowed to unmask him: she wanted to know who he truly was, and how was he able to do such things.

And obviously, she'd use those informations at her advantage.

So far, though, her investigation had not progressed much: Saiyaman was frustratingly elusive, and usually avoided direct confrontation on the topic when approached. Currently, her only suspect was the no less mysterious Gohan Son. She had some good reasons to believe he and the masked superhero were the same person, though some things didn't add up, but she lacked actual evidence.

And she was definitely going to find them.

A smile formed on her face as she slowly got out of the tub, wrapping her thin body in a white towel. The radio on the shelf was still giving off the annoying static sound, so she turned it off, mentally noting to give it a look in the future. Then, she exited the bathroom and turned left to her room, closed the door and started to get dressed. Instead of the usual plain shirt, she opted for a white, long-sleeved t-shirt under a sleeveless blue shirt with a red "FIGHT" logo printed on the front, along with some gray sweatpants and her standard yellow boots.

She then picked up the hair dryer she kept in a drawer of the dressing table, plugged it into the wall socket, and turned it on, only to find out it didn't work.

"What's going on?" she angrily exclaimed, then something caught her eye: the alarm clock on the bedside table was flashing from apparently a good thirty minutes, judging from the blinking numbers.

_A power outage...wonderful!_

She was about to call her dad, then she remembered he was not at home.

He'd left two days ago on a business trip, saying that Videl was big enough to take care for herself while he was out, and was not going to come back until another two weeks. Although the girl actually believed he was just spending some quality time with one or more of his countless lovers, his departure suited her just fine.

With a sigh, she walked out and descended the stairs, heading to the basement where the main fuse box was. As she passed through a window, she noticed a police car parking right in front of the metal gate. A familiar figure emerged from the vehicle, adjusting his blue peaked cap.

She stopped midway, ran for the front door, and rushed down the alley to the black gate.

"Chief Drake! What a surprise!"

"Videl! Thank goodness you're here. I feared you were out in your jet-copter."

The raven haired girl reached for the keys in her pocket, and started to unlock the gate, but Drake interrupted her.

"That won't be necessary, I'm not staying here long. I just came to fill you in with the news."

"Oh. But why didn't you contact me through my watch, then?"

"I'll tell you soon, but first let's start from the beginning." The man paused, as an ambulance passed nearby at full speed with their sirens wailing; once it was far enough, he resumed the conversation.

"About half an hour ago, a massive blackout hit the whole city and the surrounding rural areas. Right now, most public buildings are running on emergency generators. We've done some investigation, but it didn't take long to find out what caused the power failure: apparently, all of the transmission lines have been severed, even the underground cables. Unbelievable, huh?"

"All of them? How could it be?"

"We didn't have a clue, until we started receiving some reports about strange road accidents: cars crashing into thin air, or split in half, even the hovering ones. I didn't believe it, so I drove to the nearest crash site; long story short, we've discovered that an invisible barrier is blocking every path to and from Satan City."

Videl couldn't believe her ears. "An invisible barrier?" she asked, not sure she'd understood what the chief just said.

"Yep. It's like glass, you can see what's on the other side. But it's much, much harder than a concrete wall. Nothing can pass trough. For all I know, it may even be indestructible."

Videl was stunned: why would an invisible wall inexplicably show up around a big city? Was it really indestructible as the chief said?

"So...I'm guessing this thing...sliced the transmission lines when it popped up, hence the blackout, right?"

"That's exactly what I thought. I fear this barrier might be covering the whole city perimeter; this is no good at all." Drake said in a serious tone. "We will have to use every single man on the police force to handle the situation..."

"What about the military? Can't we just call them? I'm sure they'll know how to deal with this thing!"Videl said, though she was not so sure herself.

"Ahh, yes, I almost forgot" the Chief shook his head, then resumed. "As if things couldn't get any worse, we've been cut off from every type of connection with the outside world: radios, telephones, TVs, Internet, you name it. They're all down. Guess we have to thank the wall for this one too. There's no way of contacting foreign authorities: we can just hope they arrive here as soon as possible, and come up with a solution. But right now, we'll have to rely on our own forces."

Videl didn't know what to say: it all seemed so absurd. Maybe she was still relaxing in the bathtub, and this was just a dream?

Before she could pinch herself to make sure she was dreaming, she already knew she wasn't. She rested her body on the iron bars, taking a deep breath. Then she looked up to the chief.

"This is so confusing...i just don't know what to say. I'm pretty shocked."

Chief Drake place a hand on her shoulder.

"I know, I know. That's why I have to make sure there won't be any disorder when people know about this." He checked the time on his watch. "I gotta go. Stay safe, Videl. I'll try to stop by later in the evening."

He gave her a fatherly smile, then turned and walked towards the car. Before he opened the door, Videl shouted "Wait!"

The man slowly turned to face the young girl. She had a confident look on her face.

"I'll come too. I'll do everything I can to help. You know me, I can't just do nothing while there's an emergency out there. Besides, I want to see this mysterious wall myself."

"You sure, Videl?" Drake asked, uncertain.

"You bet I am!" she replied without hesitation. She felt a newfound energy running in her veins, and couldn't wait to put it to the test.

Drake looked at her for a few seconds; then he spoke.

"Fine, let's go."

* * *

Still in his Super Saiyan form, Gohan was flying in the direction of the City Hall. He and Vegeta had been discussing on what they were going to do about the current situation; while Gohan said he had his Saiyaman duties to attend to, Vegeta couldn't care less about "those pathetic weaklings"; he claimed he needed some time to think about the next move, and that he was going to find a nice place to temporarily settle down. They agreed to meet at eight in the same place, before setting off in opposite directions.

It was then that Gohan realized he had lost his red cape, probably during his transformation a while ago. He didn't mind; there were more important things to do right now.

As he passed over Route 81, he saw a large amount of wrecked vehicles amassed near the border of the Dome, some still in flames. A little south of there, the police had established a roadblock, preventing other cars to crash into the invisible wall.

_Looks like the authorities have been informed already. I wonder if they know something about the Dome I am unaware of._

Police sirens, shouts, and other loud noises were filling the air when Gohan flew over the commercial district; he had never seen so many police cars racing in the streets below, not even in the last big chase in which he'd participated a couple of days ago.

Finally, he reached the white, tall building that housed the mayor's office and the Satan City Council.

He landed before the main entrance, and burst through the door, ignoring the surprised screams and looks of the bystanders.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" A man in with a white shirt and a black tie placed himself directly on the way to the stairs, forcing Gohan to stop.

"This is an emergency, I have to speak to the mayor!"

"I'm sorry sir, I can't let you go through if you don't have a scheduled appointment."

"There's no time, I have to see him now!" Gohan was starting to get frustrated.

"I have told you already, sir, I..."

"I am Saiyaman, for Dende's sake!" he shouted, making everyone in the room turn their head in his direction, astonished. The man in the white shirt raised an eyebrow.

"Are you?" he asked; then added "Now that I think of it, that suit you're wearing it's pretty similar to that of Saiyaman. But I thought he also wore a helmet..."

"Broken" he answered shortly, "now can you tell me where the mayor is?"

Just then, a short and stocky man in a blue suit, wearing eyeglasses and sporting a thick mustache, rapidly descended the stairs, walking towards the two men. He saw them, and stopped himself.

"What's going on here, Jerry? Is anyone causing trouble?" he asked to the guy in front of Gohan, who had is back turned to the newcomer.

"Mayor, this guy says he wants to speak with you. Claims he's the Great Saiyaman!"

Gohan moved a step forward. "Mayor, it's me, Saiyaman. We've already met, you were..."

"Ahh, yes, I remember you." the mayor cut him off, probably because he didn't want to reminisce about their first meeting; in that occasion, he had been kidnapped by the Red Shark Gang, which had basically exposed the police's carelessness and failure to protect even the representatives of the government. That wound was still fresh in the memory of the unfortunate mayor, and he avoided the topic whenever possible.

The man stared curiously at Gohan's hair.

"What's with the shining hairstyle? I've heard stories of a Gold Fighter with hair like that, but I didn't think he and Saiyaman were the same person..."

Gohan resisted the urge to scratch the back of his head in his signature's grin. "Another time, maybe. I have something very important to say, right now."

"Very well, but try to make it short. I have a meeting with the Police Chief in about five minutes."

"Thanks, sir. It's about the invisible barrier that has recently surrounded the city. I believe you already know about it."

"Actually, that's all I know. That's why the Chief is supposed to come here soon. He'd sent one of his men to tell me that he'd found out the cause of the blackout, and possibly of the telecommunication failures, and that he was coming here to tell me everything they'd discovered."

"Blackout? Communication failure? I know nothing about them. What happened?"

The mayor raised an eyebrow.

"What happened? Chaos, that's what! Everyone started to panic when the lights went out; we activated the emergency power system, only to find out telephones and radios didn't work no more. All because some crazy wall decided to show up and mess with everyone's life!"

"Actually, sir, it's not a wall. It's a dome."

"A...dome, you say?"

"Yes. And it's seemingly indestructible. I witnessed a plane exploding in the air as it collided with the Dome, and I myself couldn't break through."

"A plane crashed?" he asked, shocked. "This is terrible...and it didn't even harm the damn thing?"

"Not even a scratch."

The mayor paused, looking down. After a few moments, he raised his head.

"You say you've tried to break through, but were unsuccessful. I know you're super-strong and everything, but don't you think a couple of well placed rockets could, uhmmm...be a little more...efficient?" he nervously asked, shifting from foot to foot.

Gohan was amazed by the sheer foolishness of the question: he'd been fighting crime in their city for so much time, and they still didn't understand what was he capable of?

"I don't mean to brag, but I can assure you my powers are far, far stronger than those of a conventional weapon, sir. And believe me, I tried to the best of my abilities." he replied, slightly annoyed.

The mayor remained silent. He slowly took off his glasses, wiping them with his suit's sleeves. When he put them back on, he had begun to sweat.

"Man...this might be even worse than we thought..." he muttered to himself; he then raised his voice: "If this barrier is really so invulnerable as you say, I fear there's nothing we can do."

"Now, sir, let's not rush to conclusions. I'm sure we'll find what caused the Dome to appear, and make it go away somehow." Gohan stated, with a confidence he didn't feel. "Who knows, maybe it will suddenly disappear on its own, just as it popped up..."

In that moment, the door burst open, and two figures appeared on the doorway. One was the tall, elder chief Drake; the other one, to Gohan's surprise, was Videl.

The young girl on the opposite side of the room stared at him, with eyes and mouth wide open; clearly, neither of them had expected to see the other so soon.

"Drake, at last! Now can you tell me exactly what the hell is going on? I was having a word with our beloved superhero, over there, and..."

"Saiyaman?" Videl moved towards the young half-Saiyan, ignoring the two men. "The Great Saiyaman?"

Gohan quickly straightened his posture: "Hi miss Videl!" He then remembered he was not wearing his helmet.

_Oh crap! I hope she doesn't recognize me! My transformation should protect my face, but..._

"I can't believe it!" she screamed, making he wince. "You...you're the Gold Fighter!"

Gohan sighed, relaxing: for a moment, he thought she was going to say his name. Still, he decided to look away, afraid that the fear in his eyes would betray him.

"Hehehe...well, uhm...yes, I am." He felt stupid, but didn't know what else to say.

"I've always wondered why did the Gold Fighter vanish, right before Saiyaman first appeared. I guess it only makes sense now. But tell me" Videl got so close, Gohan had to take a step back to avoid her piercing gaze, "why did you change your name and appearance?"

"Videl, this is not the time..."

"Answer me!" she grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. "Is it because you didn't want to be recognized by schoolmates, isn't it? 'Cause I know you are a student at Orange High!"

But before Gohan could come up with a smart answer, a large boom from the outside tore the air, making the building shake. A second, bigger explosion, opened a breach in the wall, shattering windows and raising a cloud of debris.

Everyone but Gohan and Videl fell on the hard pavement, some hurt, some passed out. Videl let go of Gohan and ran to help the chief stand up, but before she reached him a stern voice coming out of a megaphone spoke up: "Stop, or we'll shoot!"

Videl froze; Gohan turned to where the voice came from: half hidden by smoke, a dozen of men, all armed with heavy weaponry, stood by the broken remains of the front door; another three were entering the building from the new breach on the left. One of them was a few steps ahead of the others, holding a megaphone in one hand, and a pistol in the other.

"Everybody get down on the floor! We're only here for the mayor. Do as we say, and no one will get hurt."


	3. Everyone has secrets

Author's note: thank you again for your precious reviews!

To NerdsRule: no, they're not. I thought about implementing that concept, but it didn't just fit with what I have in mind. Though they may get some sort of special interaction in the future, I don't know.

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z, or any of the characters.

**Chapter Three: Everyone has secrets**

Sitting at the desk with her arms folded, staring at the laptop screen, Erasa patiently waited for her friend's return.

They were broadcasting the "usual" local news – crime rates, Saiyaman sightings, Hercule's Gym closed for vacation, etc. – when the power suddenly went off. After the two teens had figured out the problem, Pen, a scrawny boy with short brown hair and glasses, who was both Erasa's classmate and her usual partner during their shift at the radio station, had left the studio to reactivate the power generator; meanwhile, the blond girl had tried to kill time by surfing the web, only to find out there was no Internet connection.

After a minute or two, the electricity came back on; she quickly moved aside the laptop, put on a pair of headphones and neared her lips to the hanging microphone on the left.

"Sorry for the interruption; it seems our dear, old generator has decided to play one of its pranks lately. I'm Erasa, and you're listening to KOSH _(A/N: Orange Star High)_, the best little big radio in Satan city!"

She then pressed a button on the console, and the next song on the list started to play. As she took off the headphones and rose up, Pen opened the door.

"Erasa, hey!"

"Pen! I think I lost the paper with the weather forecast; help me find it, we still..."

"Something weird is happening!" he cut her off. "I just checked the radio, and there's no signal at all – except for us!"

She looked at him curiously: "What do you mean?"

"I mean we're the only ones on air! AM, FM, anywhere! All the other frequencies are silent!"

"How can it be? You sure the radio is not just malfunctioning?"

"I don't think so. What do you think it means?"

Erasa lightly scratched the side of her head. "I don't really know. By the way, what's wrong with the Internet?" she asked, trying once again to open up a web page. "Icon says there's no signal. Maybe it's because of the blackout?"

Pen sat on the soft office chair, and soon began to deal with the laptop, rapidly running his fingers on the keyboard.

"Well, I'll go searching for that piece of paper while you have your fun. Let me know if you find something!" With that, Erasa walked out of the room, entering the relax area. She'd just remembered sitting on the couch when the manager had given her that day's weather forecast note to record. And indeed, it was there she found the important paper; it must have slipped out of her pocket when she got up.

She decided to take a little break, and lied down on the sofa.

She remembered the first time she'd entered that very radio station, about three months ago. Given her reputation as #1 social butterfly and gossip queen of the school, it was only natural her application for a job at the school's radio had been accepted straight away. She had always wanted to make use of her social skills for something more productive and important than student's rumors, and she believed this job would be the perfect springboard for her future career. After a few days, she was already one of the main six student Djs, firmly securing her place; and lately, she had been working on her first personal show, to be included on the current programming once she presented the idea to the boss.

_Oh, I'm sure he's gonna like it. Our ratings will totally skyrocket!_

Yawning, she grabbed the TV remote laying on the armrest on her right, and turned it on.

Static.

Erasa frowned, then switched to the next channel. Still static.

_Now that's weird. This thing never gave us any problem._

She changed once again. Static. The next one too. And so on, until her thumb started to ache.

She was no technician, but was sure enough it had something to do with the recent power outage.

"Pen! The TV's not working. I think it's because of the blackout."

"I'm not getting any progress with the connection either." the boy responded. "I fear something bad is happening out there. What if someone dropped and EMP bomb? Or maybe..."

"Whoa, now let's not be hasty!" She exclaimed, trying to calm his friend down. He was always so paranoid about the end of the world. "I'm sure it's nothing serious. Here's what I'll do." She pulled out her mobile phone, dialing a number. "I'll call the boss and I'll tell him we're having technical issues. I bet he'll know what to...what?"

She couldn't believe it: there was no signal on the phone.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Something very strange was indeed happening.

Pen looked at her, a worried expression stamped on his face: "What now?"

Erasa took a good minute weighing her possible options, before answering.

"I'll go see the principal. Maybe he knows what's going on."

"Okay...I'll take care of things here. Just come back soon!"

The blonde quickly checked herself in the mirror next to the entrance, running a hand through her hair, before venturing out.

The radio station was located on the last floor of the school building, at the end of a long corridor. Because the principal's office was on the ground floor, Erasa had quite a long walk ahead of her.

As she walked through the empty hallway, she glanced out of the big windows on the left, looking for a clue of what might have happened. Aside for some police cars driving at high speed, there was nothing odd with the landscape.

_Yep, just our usual Satan City: tall buildings, busy streets...and police chases._

But when she looked up to the blue sky, something caught her eye.

It was very far from there, yet she could clearly see the large ball of fire that could only have been originated from an explosion.

* * *

Gohan shook his head in disappointment. _Man, will these guys ever learn?_

"You two! Get down, now!" ordered the man with the megaphone.

Videl hesitated: surrendering was usually not an option to the brave girl, but this time she saw no other choices. Those guys were too far, and were all pointing their guns at them, so a frontal attack was beyond question. She glanced at Saiyaman, who seemed fairly calm. Maybe he had a plan?

"Are you deaf? On the ground, I said!" the man raised his gun, pointing it at the girl.

"Please, Videl, do as he says." whispered the chief, "I don't want you to get hurt."

Suddenly, Saiyaman vanished, reappearing right in front her, facing the thugs, clearly shocked as they never saw him moving.

"What the fuck?"

"How did he do that?"

Gohan ignored them. "Listen up" he said, crossing his arms, "I'm not looking for a fight today, but I can't just let you walk away, so here's the deal: you either throw your weapons and surrender peacefully, or I'll be forced to beat you up, and I assure you it's not going to be nice!"

"And who the hell do you think you are?" the man with the megaphone asked. "Get outta my way punk, before I..."

"Hey boss, I think I know him" one of the thugs said. "I saw him on TV. I think he's the Great Singing Man, or something like that!"

"It's Saiyaman, you fool! S-A-I-Y-A-M-A-N!" the half-Saiyan snapped. _Is that so difficult to understand?_

"Mmmhhh...now that I think of it, he looks somewhat different." the guy added.

"So, this twerp is the famous defender of justice, huh?" the boss turned to face Gohan. "Well, superhero or not, I don't care. Let's teach this clown a lesson, guys!"

"Don't say you weren't warned." Gohan spat, unfolding his arms as the criminals all raised their weapons.

Then, in the blink of an eye, he disappeared again. In a split second, he reappeared behind one of the thugs near the door, kneeing him hard in the back. Before the others could realize what happened, he charged head on to his left, headbutting one of the enemies, who violently landed onto another. A rain of lead reached him, but he easily dodged the bullets. He then stretched out his hand forward, and shot an invisible blast, knocking out most of the thugs.

One of them had a bazooka, and desperately fired a missile at him. Gohan simply caught it with his arm, stopping it, and dropped it on the floor, disarmed.

He launched at the remaining enemies, his fists rapidly connecting with their faces, until only the boss was left standing.

"Just...who are you?" he asked, his legs shaking in fear. Gohan smirked.

"Didn't your friend tell you?" Gohan once again raised his palm. He then assumed an heroic pose, placing the other hand on his hip, and stated, in his most solemn tone: "I am Saiyaman!"

* * *

Sitting on the stairs, Videl watched as the last group of handcuffed thugs entered a big police van.

Once again, she had been unable to do anything else but watch as Saiyaman, or the Gold Fighter, whatever, single-handedly disposed of the bad guys; though this time, she was actually powerless.

Even if she hated to admit it, she was starting to think the superhero might really be the worthy defender of the city. Nothing seemed to stop him; he was definitely on another league. Hell, he was obviously superior to her...

_No!_ said a voice in her head, _He's not superior to you, girl!_

_But I can't fly, or dodge bullets, or stop rockets like he does!_

_That doesn't mean anything! You can still give him a run for his money!_

_Oh, really? And how, exactly?_

_Everyone has weaknesses, and he's no exception! You just have to find them!_

"Uhm...hey Videl!" a voice interrupted her mental struggle.

Videl turned her head: it was Saiyaman.

"Oh...hey. Good job you did earlier." she said in a neutral voice.

"Thanks, but it was nothing, really." he replied casually; for some reason, he was avoiding eye contact. "Can I sit here?" he asked.

Videl stared at him. That was most unusual; he wasn't one to stick around after he saved the day, especially when she was there. Nevertheless, she nodded, and the golden haired hero sat next to her.

They both said nothing for a while, looking at their surroundings. However, that unnatural silence didn't last long.

Saiyaman loudly cleared his throat. "So...about our previous discussion...you're right, I'm the Gold Fighter."

_No shit, Sherlock._

"I changed my name and adopted a proper uniform in order to better conceal my true identity. It worked just fine, well, until now." He said, lowering his gaze.

_Mmmhhh...I wonder where is this going..._

"However, even if you saw my face earlier, I'm sure you still don't know who I really am."

Videl turned her head: "Are you mocking me, now?"

"Not at all, not at all...actually, I'm impressed." he quickly replied, still not looking in her direction.

"That's just the beginning; once I find out your name, you won't be so cocky!" she angrily exclaimed. "Hair like yours are pretty unique; and I do have a trail. It's only a matter of time, you'll see!"

"Oh, I don't know about your trail, and yes, my hair are...very uncommon. But I'm sure you won't uncover my secret identity anyway."

Videl smirked. "You're delusional, and you know it!" She had regained her usual confidence.

"No I'm not. Do you seriously think I'd be talking to you about it, if I didn't know better?"

Videl didn't say anything. Saiyaman got up.

"Just so you know, this" he pointed at his hair "this is not how I really look like. You will never find this face anywhere."

That last statement hit her real hard. There was no way that wasn't his real face. He was just bluffing, wasn't he?

No, he looked dead serious...but then again, how could that not be his actual face? He was definitely not wearing a mask.

"Hey! What does that mean?" she asked, getting on her feet. "And why don't you look at me in the eyes?"

"Didn't you say you had a lead?" he smiled; then, turning around, he took off to the sky, flying away until he became a small dot on the blue sky.

As her mind stored the limited, but precious information she'd gathered, Videl couldn't help but think at the no longer masked, yet mysterious as ever vigilante.

_Just who are you...Saiyaman?_

Her thoughts were once again cut off by a familiar voice.

"Hey Videl!" This time it was the chief.

"Chief Drake! Are you ok?"

"Yes, I just hit my arm real hard, but thankfully it's nothing. If Saiyaman wasn't there when those criminals attacked us..."

"Yeah, he was amazing, as usual" she quickly said, trying to change the subject. "Those guys were pretty stupid actually. I mean, why would they try and kidnap the mayor, with the barrier and everything?"

"They didn't know about it. They had it planned long ago. Oh, and by the way, the mayor told me the invisible wall it's actually a dome."

"A dome?"

"Yes. Saiyaman told him, and he was unmistakably sure. I guess the guy just flew up and checked by himself."

Videl clenched her fists. _How was his name always coming out in every matter?_

"So, I'm assuming he too couldn't get past the barrier, right? Then...does this mean there's no way out?" she asked, trying her best to hide her frustration.

Drake inspired heavily. "Apparently, no. But listen" he took a step forward, "there's nothing to fear, actually. We'll just go on with our lives, and wait for the eggheads to do their job. Besides, Earth's military is already on his way here. I'm sure they'll bring this dome down." he winked.

"How do you know? You said the radio didn't work no more!"

"We were wrong, just a little. There's still no way to communicate with the outside; however, police scanners and walkie talkies under the dome operate just fine. Yes, your special watch is included." he added, anticipating her incoming question.

"And it seems our local radio is still up and running. That's were we heard the military is aware of the situation: one of the Djs has managed to intercept some of their radio chatter about coming here."

Videl rapidly checked the time. 17:21.

_Yep, Erasa is still on her shift._

"Those Djs are clueless about what's going on, and so is the majority of the people. Which is why someone has to get to the radio station and make an emergency broadcast."

"I'll do it." Videl promptly offered. Drake couldn't help but smile at her willingness.

"Need a ride?"

"Don't worry, school is just a few blocks away."

"Very well. Now I gotta go. Got lots of work on my hands." He walked towards his car. "Did you know there are almost one hundred roads that lead in and out of Satan City? Neither did I."

With that, he departed; Videl took a last look at the damaged City Hall, before making her way to the school.

* * *

Vegeta landed in a sleazy, dark alley, before the entrance of a dirty building. There was no one around.

He pushed the wooden door open, and proceeded to ran up the stairs. It was dark, but he didn't bother to turn on the lights. He knew precisely where to go.

As he ran, he mentally counted the floors he was passing.

_Fourteen...fifteen...sixteen..._

Finally, he stopped at the eighteenth floor. He ran through the desert hallway, and almost tripped over a houseplant while turning the corner. Cursing under his breath, he kept moving until he found the apartment he was looking for.

On the blue door, in yellow letters, was written: Door 18D

The door was ajar, just as he had left it. He checked the corridor to make sure no one was looking, then entered the apartment and shut the door. It was pitch black inside.

He quickly scanned the place for ki signature; but he found none. He turned the lights on.

The hall was a mess: there were piles of crates everywhere, some flipped on their side, some open and revealing their content; sheets of newspapers filled the floor, and a broken bookcase was lying on the floor, along with its books.

The Saiyan made his way through the chaos, and entered a room on the left. He flicked the switch.

The lights revealed a dead body on the floor, facing upwards, the head turned in an unnatural position. He wore a black business suit, and his cold hand was still clenching a fully loaded pistol.

Vegeta slightly grinned at that sight, then moved forward. There was a laptop on the desk opposite the door, still turned on. Vegeta sat on a chair, and began working with it.

He opened a folder labeled "Results". An impressive amount of photos, documents, and even a video popped up on the screen. They were pictures of capsules, computers, strange machines and prototypes; each of them had a file text attached which described its features.

Even though Vegeta didn't know much about scientific research, he could tell this was some serious shit. It took Capsule Corporation's Intelligence, or CCI, over four months to uncover the identity of the mole who had been passing top secret information to the company's main rival, Pod Corporation. By the time they find out, the mole had already left West City; so, Director Bulma had no other choice but to break protocol, and recruit Special Agent Vegeta on the spot, with the mission to find the spy and retrieve the stolen secrets.

Vegeta didn't really want to waste his time playing spy, but his wife had been...very convincing, to say the least. And it was because of this secret agent thing that he was now stuck in that pathetic city.

Before he flew to Satan City, where the spy had been tracked down, Bulma told him to keep a low profile and, more importantly, to not kill the mole. He himself didn't really want to, but that was all in the past now: after he had snuck in the apartment, and found the files on the laptop, he had seen something that made his blood boil. Along with the other files, there were pictures of Bulma.

Yes, _that _kind of pictures.

He was so enraged, he almost didn't hear the other spy entering the room, holding him at gunpoint. Or so he thought.

Vegeta released all his anger in one, fatal punch to the guy's face, instantly snapping his neck.

But he was still pissed as hell; so, leaving the laptop on its place, he took off to the sky, trying to cool down. It was then that he first made contact with the Dome.

Now he had come back to finish his job: he linked a USB flash drive to the computer, and stored the folder inside it, then deleted the files on the laptop. He slipped the flash drive in one of his new utility belt's pocket.

_Now, time to find a place to stay and ponder about the damn situation._

He left the apartment, this time closing the door, and went down the stairs.

He never saw the two people dressed in black coming out of the elevator, walking straight to the place he'd just left.


	4. Theories, and troubles

Author's note: chapter four is finally up! Sorry for the long waiting, but I had some problems with my family, and I couldn't bring myself to write. To make up for lost time, I wrote a slightly longer chapter. Not much happens here, but you'll get more action in the future. Enjoy!

To low on inspiration: POVs from outside the dome will arrive once the story progresses far enough, just be patient ;)

To angelnieves.1656: no, the guys in black are part of an original subplot of mine. You'll find out more in the next chapters.

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Dragon Ball Z, or any of the characters.

**Chapter Four: Theories, and troubles**

Gohan landed on the roof of a certain high school, and went for the gray, metal door that lead to the stairs. Thankfully, it was never locked; he stepped inside, and ran down, searching for his locker.

There were very few students at school at the time, and they were all busy doing their afternoon activities, thus making it easy for the young Super Saiyan to freely run around the place.

Gohan finally reached his locker, and opened it; other than text books, blank sheets and other supplies, he always kept some spare workout clothes for gym classes. He grabbed them, then went to the nearest bathroom, and stripped off from what was left of his Saiyaman costume, and put on a long sleeve t-shirt and a pair of grey sports pants. He made his way to the locker again, and stuffed the Saiyaman outfit into it. Sure, it wasn't the handiest place to store it if an emergency forced him to retrieve it quickly, but he simply had no choice. He didn't want to risk putting it into his school bag, afraid that someone might see it, so this was his best bet.

Finally, after a quick glance to check if anyone was coming, he powered down to his normal form. Tiredness catched up with him as he wiped the sweat from his brow; during those peaceful years, he'd been slacking off on his training, save the occasional sparring session with Vegeta, and so he was no longer used to effortlessly stay transformed for a couple of hours like he did in the past. Plus, now that the adrenaline rush was over, he felt even more drowsy, thanks to both yesterday night and today's adventures.

_Hang on, Gohan. Soon Vegeta will show up, and then you'll go to sleep._

But he knew it wouldn't be easy: he leaned his back on the wall, slowly closing his eyes...Just for a few seconds, he promised himself, but it was so good...

"BOOOH!"

Gohan opened his eyes wide and instinctively feel on a fighting stance, his vision still blurry. He heard someone laughing next to him.

"Sharpner?"

"Hahahahahaha! You should have seen the look on your face! That was...soooooo fucking hilarious! Hahahahahaha!" the blond guy was doubled over, laughing like a maniac, his long hair dancing in front of his face.

Gohan stood straight. He must have fallen asleep, or else he would have sensed him coming. He really needed a hot cup of coffee.

It took Sharpner a full minute to catch his breath and recollect himself, and when he spoke there was still a large smile on his pallid face.

"Anyway, what are you doing here, Brains? Shouldn't you be studying at home right now?"

Gohan looked at the muscular teenager. Sharpner could be quite irritating at times, as he enjoyed calling Gohan names and making fun of his high grades. However, he was the closest thing to a friend his own age Gohan currently had, not counting Erasa, and the only male too. Ever since their first baseball match, Sharpner had gradually grown to respect him, to the point of sharing with him his thoughts and worries on a more personal level. The fact that they both hanged out with Videl and Erasa had helped to improve their relationship; but Sharpner still retained his jock personality, so theirs was an odd friendship.

"I couldn't get back home because of the Dome, you know, the invisible barrier that's blocking the city, and..."

"Hold your horses, what are you babbling about?"

"Wait, you mean you don't know what happened?"

"What should I know? I've been working out the whole time!"

"Okay, so basically an invisible dome has dropped over the city, causing a massive blackout and countless accidents, and we're all stuck on the inside, and there's no way to get out or to make contact with the outside world, because this dome is blocking out every signal to and from the other side."

Sharpner looked at him like he was crazy: "Man, are you high? What the fuck are you talking about?"

Gohan slapped his forehead. "I'm not high, I'm telling the truth! Look, I know it sounds crazy, but that's what really happened!"

"Very funny Gohan, now stop joking around, will you?"

"He's not joking" a familiar voice said; both teens turned their heads as Videl Satan walked up to them from the other end of the hallway. "By the way, why did you change your clothes Gohan? You were wearing the school's uniform when you left."

Gohan groaned. _Wow, nothing escapes her..._

He had to come up with a convincing story, and soon!

"Uhmm...they got burned."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Burned?"

"Yeah, I...had a bike accident. You know, I was on my way home, and the Dome..."

"A bike accident? I thought you used a Jet copter to travel..."

"Yeah, well, it needed maintenance, so I had to use my motorcycle today, and..."

"What, you have a motorcycle, Brains?" Sharpner interrupted, but no one paid attention to him.

"So you had an accident, your clothes caught fire, and yet you're unscathed. Amazing." Videl sarcastically commented.

"I got lucky." was Gohan's weak answer. "That's why I came here and switched clothes." he added, hoping Videl would buy it.

"Ok, ok, ok!" Sharpner exclaimed, putting himself between the two, "Now can someone explain me exactly what the hell is going on?"

"Look, I don't have time for this, I have to make an important message on the radio." Videl said, motioning for the stairs.

"Is it about this crazy shit?" the blonde asked him, and before she could even reply, "I'm coming too."

"Fine" she nodded, apparently having nothing against it. Then turned to Gohan. "Are you joining us?"

"No, I need to sit down and drink something before I zonk out again. I'll go to the cafeteria."

"All right." She gave him a _we-will-talk-about-it-later_ look, and ran to the other way, with Sharpner in hot pursuit.

Once they were gone, he made his way to the lunchroom, only to find the doors that lead to it blocked by a caution tape.

"Sorry buddy, the place is off limits." said a guy Gohan recognized as one of the servers. "The furnace blew up, and we're lucky the whole building is still standing."

"But I need some coffee!"

"Well, you ain't gonna find it here, that's for sure."

Filled with frustration, the young half-Saiyan decided to go to the nearest bar, despite having little money with him. As he walked down the road, he couldn't help but notice how many people were standing on the corners in small groups, discussing animatedly.

"Do you know what's happening? I don't."

"I heard there was a massive accident on Burnett Avenue, and fourteen people died!"

"Did you see that plane exploding in the air a few hours ago?"

"57 channels, and still nothing on! Those guys at ZTV better have an explanation for this!"

_People are so confused. I hope criminals won't take advantage of the chaos, because I'm tired as hell!_

* * *

"Tilt it slightly to the left."

Erasa and Pen were messing with the radio over the table, adjusting the knob as they tried to get a clear sound.

After spending a ridiculous amount of time, they had finally picked up a non-static frequency. The signal was disturbed, but from what they'd managed to hear, it seemed to be some kind of military transmission. Between the screeching and hissing noises, they heard phrases like "roughly 20000 feet tall.", "3rd recon approaching yellow zone." and "Eagle 2, flying above target, over."

That, coupled with what the principal told her earlier about strange accidents connected with the blackout, had prompted her to announce their findings to the people, while trying to find a link that connected the events.

The transmission remained stable for a while, then they lost it, and now they were trying to find it again. Every now and then, they managed to hear some distant words, but it was impossible to tell what were they saying.

Just then, the door burst open; Erasa turned to see who it was, as they hardly received visits during their shift.

"Videl? Sharpner? What are you doing here?"

"Erasa, I have to make an important broadcast, where's the microphone?"

"Uhmm, it's there, on your right. Videl, what..."

"Later!" the raven haired girl's answer, as she grabbed the mic. Erasa shared a puzzled look with Pen; even Sharpner didn't seem to have a clue about what was the girl going to say.

The song being played was abruptly cut off, and the next thing on air was Videl's firm voice.

"I'm Videl Satan, and this is an emergency broadcast. Please, stop whatever you're doing and listen to me." she paused for a moment, then resumed "This afternoon, shortly after three, a strange event took place in our city. It appears that an invisible dome has dropped from the sky, isolating us from the outside. This dome chopped communication cables, and is the main cause of the massive blackout.

We tried to get to the other side, but so far our attempts have proven unsuccessful. Also, the Dome is blocking out every signal to the outside, so this means we can't communicate with the exterior. This includes telephones, internet connections, anything. We only managed to pick up a military transmission, and they were talking about our city, so at least we know that the authorities are aware of our situation."

She paused again; Sharpner and Pen had their jaws dropped wide open, and Erasa was sitting on the couch, a shocked expression drawn on her pale face. The sudden news, reported in such a direct way, had clearly hit each of the teens hard.

_Oh no! How am I supposed to go to that new shopping mall they opened in Randosel Town?_ was Erasa's main concern.

"Anyway" Videl resumed talking "I don't know for how long we will be stuck here, but we all have to keep calm, and continue with our ordinary lives; the police are taking matters in their hands, and also, the Great Saiyaman is out there helping us, so we have nothing to fear. That's all for now, we'll keep you updated once we learn more."

She let go of the microphone, and turned to face the others; they were all looking down, each lost in their own thoughts.

None of them said anything for a while; Sharpner mumbled something to himself, but other than that everyone remained quiet. Eventually, Erasa raised her head.

"This is crazy...what are we going to do now?" she asked to no one in particular.

Videl checked her watch: 17: 54

"I...I think I'm going home." Sharpner said. "I'll take a nice shower, then I'll go sleeping, and when I wake up, everything will be perfect, as it used to be."

"You dumbass! This is all real, so face it like a man!" Videl angrily exclaimed: she hated it when someone acted cowardly in a stressful situation. But the blonde apparently didn't care.

"I have to go too." this time it was Pen who spoke. "Gotta check on my mom, dad is at the hospital so she's home alone. Bye everyone!"

Without another word, the two headed out, leaving Erasa and Videl in the empty studio.

"...boys..." Videl muttered.

"Well, I think I'm gonna stay here for the night." Erasa said. Videl turned to her, perplexed. "You know, with this Dome and everything, people will totally need to hear a friendly voice on the radio! And besides, someone has to keep them updated, like you said."

She raised up, checking her reflection in the mirror, and a great smile formed on her lips.

Videl stared at her best friend: ever since she got this job, she had immediately fallen in love with it

"If it was up to you, I bet you would live here, won't you?" Videl joked. They both laughed, enjoying that care-free moment.

"Anyway, it's getting late; I think I'll call chief Drake and stick with him as long as possible."

"Hey Vi, do you think we'll have school tomorrow?"

Videl scratched her head. "Mmmhh...no, I guess. This is an emergency, right?"

"Yeah, you're right." She looked as her friend walked towards the door. "Hey, if you learn anything new, just let me know, okay?"

"Sure" The raven haired girl waved and left the room.

* * *

Vegeta had never fully adapted to live on Earth. Despite having been forced to settle in that dirty mud ball for almost ten years now, he continued to despise humans as a weak and corrupt race, who heavily relied on machines to fulfill even the simplest of tasks. There were plenty of things he didn't understand, ranging from those colored rags they called "fashion clothing", to those tin can vehicles they used to travel, but right now it was their pitiful ignorance that baffled him most.

He was flying in circles following the perimeter of the Dome, trying to come up with a plane, and couldn't help to watch as the armed forces of the planet set up camp on the edge of the barrier, already examining it and conducting strange experiments, which involved pouring acid that was simply absorbed, digging tunnels to reach the other side, only to find out that the Dome ran far deep under the ground, and, the most foolish of attempts, shooting at it with laser weapons, grenades and such.

In the past, the military had already proved its blinding stupidity at dealing with threats, most notably when they launched two massive attacks against Cell seven years ago, only to be decimated by the monster in both occasions. True, they were facing some kind of passive shield rather than a powerful foe this time, but if the best they could come up with was firing at the damn thing, then they had learned nothing from their mistakes, and deserved to be punished for their dumbness.

Though he didn't show it to Gohan, Vegeta was enraged at his own helplessness in destroying the Dome. He had never seen that kind of barrier in any of the planets he "visited" while working under Frieza, and he knew earthling's technology was not capable of creating something like that. There was only one explanation, as unlikely as it seemed: it was of extraterrestrial origins, of a race he'd never heard.

Though why would aliens land on Earth and establish a protective shield over a random city, was beyond his comprehension. Unless they didn't just casually pick that place without any reason.

Maybe there was something different in this city, something that they wanted. Or rather, they wanted to protect it, hence the Dome. If so, then why not just grab it instead?

The Saiyan prince shook his head; no, it would be illogical. It had to be something different.

Maybe it wasn't "something" they sought; maybe it was "someone". Someone who lived there. But who could it be?

He knew that the city was renowned for being the hometown of that afro clown Hercule, the worldwide famous martial artist, but he doubted his popularity could reach the depths of the universe.

There were only two people on Earth who had a slim chance of being known in outer space: one was the last full-blooded Saiyan, Vegeta.

The other was the descendant of his late rival Kakarot, Gohan.

They were probably the most powerful warriors in the universe; and that day, they both happened to be in the same place, a very rare occurrence. Was it just a coincidence?

Were they spying on them?

At that thought, Vegeta stopped flying and looked up, as if he could actually see the observers, assuming his theory was right.

He stared at the cloudy sky motionless for what seemed to be hours before realizing the foolishness of his actions. When he came to his senses, he realized the sun was setting; it was almost time to meet up with the brat.

He headed to the hill where he first met Gohan; as he was flying, he suddenly heard a long, creeping laughter. It was faint, yet he could clearly hear it.

He halted again, looking around for its source, but there was no one nearby.

"Who's that?" he asked, as the laughter increased in intensity. It was getting on his nerves. "WHO'S THAT?" he shouted to the empty darkening sky.

And just as it had come, the laughter instantly disappeared.

Vegeta remained still, a bit shocked at what had just happened.

_I must be hearing things._ he eventually convinced himself. _This damn situation is playing tricks on my mind. Hmph._

Brushing off the weird event, he resumed flying, for some reason even faster than before.

When he arrived on the place, Gohan was already waiting for him, sitting on a rock.

"Vegeta, what took you so long?" he asked, getting up and approaching the older Saiyan.

"None of your business." he spat; the boy raised his eyebrows, but didn't inquire any further. "I see you finally got rid of that ridiculous costume."

"It's not ridiculous! And I just hid it in my school locker, I know I'll have to wear it again."

"Yeah, whatever. So, what did you find out?"

They discussed extensively about their findings; Vegeta didn't make any reference to his "spy job" for Bulma nor the strange laughter he heard minutes before, though. He did share his opinions about the alien backgrounds of the Dome with the boy, and the latter pointed out that electronics which got too close tended to explode, indicating it used some unknown power that conflicted with conventional energy, and possibly magnetic fields. But in the end, they still didn't know what the Dome really was, or how to get out.

But investigation was over for the day; time had passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was already half past nine. Now it was time to eat, and finally get some rest.

"So, uhm...where are we going to sleep tonight?" Gohan asked. A cold gust of wind blew over the grass, making him shiver.

Vegeta looked around. "There." he pointed to a dark crevice, half covered by rocks, on the side of the hill. Gohan widened his eyes.

"Are you crazy? It's freezing! We'll get hypothermia!"

"Stop whining. When I was your age, I was stranded on a cold planet for weeks, and I had to sleep in snowy caves filled with deadly critters until a spaceship came to rescue me!"

"Oh yeah? Well, I had a similar experience when I was only four, and I'm not in the mood for some nostalgia tonight!" he replied. Having denied his body of proper sleep for so long, he was about to collapse, but spending the night in that wet and cold crevice was just preposterous; he would get a bad night's sleep, and wake up the following morning with bones and muscles aching, providing he survived the freezing temperatures.

"Well then, what do you suggest? I'm all ears."

"We can go check if any of the hotels in town have an empty room. Way better than playing survivor in the wilderness!"

This time it was Vegeta who got angry: "I am the prince of all Saiyans! I will never beg a human for hospitality! I'd rather die!"

"It's not begging for hospitality, it's..."

"Whatever you call it, I'm not coming with you."

"Fine, stay here, but I'm going to rent a warm room, with a real bed and a bathroom, We'll see who slept better tomorrow!"

"Hmph. Good luck with that." Vegeta smirked. "But remember, we're not here on holiday, so you better show up here at nine tomorrow, or I'm gonna wake you up personally!"

"Goodnight to you too, Vegeta." he bitterly replied.

Then, gathering his energy and struggling not to fall on the ground as he felt more and more exhausted, he gave one last glare at the proud Saiyan, before turning and walking in the direction of the city.

* * *

"I can't believe it!"

Kicking an empty tin can out of the way, Gohan was walking down a dark and empty Main Street. The place was usually crowded even at night, but tonight there was almost no one, save for the occasional pedestrian. Street lamps had been shut out earlier to save up energy, giving the landscape a spectral and desolated look.

Gohan had spent the last hour roaming the streets, visiting every single hotel, but everytime he asked if there was any room available, he always got the same answer: "Sorry, there's no vacancy left."

He'd gone to the local youth hostel, only to find it packed, and the homeless shelter was closed for technical issues. Gohan knew it was only a matter of minutes before he blacked out, so, resigned, he decided to made his way to an underpass not too far from there, and lie down on the hard asphalt, using his school bag as pillow.

_I wish I still had my Saiyaman's costume with me. It would surely keep me warm_ the young warrior thought, as he crouched on the ground, trying to get in a comfortable position.

He was about to close his eyes, when he heard the screeching sound of a car abruptly slowing down. The blinding beacon coming from the headlights forced him to protect his vision with an arm; even in the dark, he recognized the outline of a police car. Cursing under his breath, he realized he didn't have any document with him.

_Great, now they're gonna throw me in jail for vagrancy._ He barely had the strength to stay conscious for a little while, let alone to stand up and run away. _At least I get to sleep indoors. Can't say the same for Vegeta._

Speaking of which, he'd probably get furious when he found out. Oh well, he'll think about it tomorrow, right now there were more pressing matters to take care of.

Summoning all his strength, he shoved the bag aside and slowly raised from the ground. Someone got out of the vehicle and moved towards him, but he didn't look like a police officer...

"Gohan?"

It was a female voice. A familiar one, too.

"Videl? Is that you?"

She was now close enough, and for the hundredth time that day, Gohan was face to face with the raven haired girl.

"What were you doing laying on the ground? You'll get sick!" then, after noticing his pallid face and his bloodshot eyes, "Are you drunk?"

"Wha...no, no!" he swiftly replied, taken aback at the implication. _Man, do I look this bad?_

He quickly told her about his mishaps, fighting the trembling in his legs. When he finished, Videl was startled.

"Why didn't you say you needed a place to stay when we were at school?" she asked. Not waiting for an answer, she added: "Never mind, you'll be staying at my place now."

Although his body cried to accept the offer straight away, Gohan's manners forced him to come up with a weak "No thanks, I don't want to be a nuisance." But he knew he wouldn't resist.

And Videl knew it as well. "Don't be ridiculous, I won't let you sleep here like a dog. Come on." she grabbed him by the arm, guiding him towards the car.

Gohan let himself be pulled into the back seat. He saw the calm face of the police chief sitting at the wheel.

"I know him, he's okay" Videl explained to the old man, fastening the belt.

Without a word, he started the engine up; two minutes later, they were standing before the gates of the Satan Mansion. Gohan had only seen the place from above while flying to school, and never truly realized how big it was until now.

"Goodnight guys!" the chief saluted before driving away, but Gohan barely listened; as they walked through the large courtyard that led to the front door, he couldn't help but think at how rich Videl's family must have been.

"Wait here, I'll go start up the emergency generator." the girl said once they were inside. She reappeared less than a minute after, and turned on the switches.

"My dad is on a business trip, otherwise he'd never let you in in the first place." she explained, while helping him climb the stairs.

"Wow...this place is amazing!" Gohan commented, staring at the luxury of the house: a crystal chandelier illuminated the hall, revealing expensive paintings, two ebony bookcases on the sides of the fireplace, a green leather sofa, a finely embroidered carpet, a large wall-mounted tv...

"Yeah, I can't complain, I guess."

They reached a long hallway with four doors.

"That's the bathroom." the girl said, pointing to the one at the end of the hallway. "My room is on the right, the one on the left is dad's. This one" she pointed to another door on the right next to her "it's the guest's bedroom, you can sleep there. Oh, and there's another bathroom right behind us." she added, pointing her thumb to a door he'd not seen.

"Thank you again Videl, I..."

"Don't mention it, now go and get some sleep, you really need it." She gave him a weak smile, then walked to her room. "I'll be here if you need anything!"

"Thanks...Goodnight!"

He entered his room, threw his school bag on the floor, and jumped on the large, soft and warm bed, not even minding to take off his shoes and crawl under the blanket. In the blink of an eye, he was in the arms of Morpheus.


	5. The plot thickens

Author's note: Thank you all for the reviews. As the title suggests, this chapter introduces some interesting aspects of the Dome and the people who are trapped inside.

To super mystic gohan: yes, they can. I think Vegeta actually achieved the form through training during the seven years of peace.

To dcp1992 and low on inspiration: we'll see what happens, hehe ;)

To WineIXI : thank you very much! I'm really happy you enjoyed that "filler" chapter. I hope you'll like this one as well.

to angelnieves.1656: thank you, I really like your detailed analyses of each chapter, makes me smile all the time when I read your opinions.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Dragon Ball Z or any of the characters.

**Chapter Five: The plot thickens**

Two men dressed in black raincoats and fedoras entered an apparently abandoned warehouse in the outskirts. They rapidly passed through a room filled with crates and heavy machinery, until they were before a metal door; the light coming from a lantern over a small box illuminated the face of a man sitting on a stool, a light machine gun resting on his lap. The man acknowledged their presence and slightly nodded, letting them through. Once inside, they descended a flight of stairs that led to the basement, and stopped before another one. One of them knocked gently for three times; from the inside someone shouted: "Come in." The two opened the door and entered what looked like an ordinary office. One man was sitting behind a wooden desk, smoking a cigar; he seemed to have been waiting them for ages.

"Sit down." The man gestured for two empty arm-chairs, and the two quickly occupied them.

"So? What took you so long?"

"Sorry boss, we've had some difficulties in carrying out our mission." said the shorter of the two. "You know, blackouts, cops everywhere..."

"I know everything about that goddamn thing, but this still doesn't explain why did you two take an entire day to do something that was supposed to be done in minutes!" he angrily yelled, holding his cigar in one hand.

The man opened his mouth to reply, but the other one, a tall and black man, preceded him. "The contact is dead, boss." he said with his deep voice.

"What?"

"We found the body in his apartment. He had a pistol in his hand, so we believe he was killed. Here" he grabbed something from his pocket; it was a picture of the deceased man, laying on the ground.

"Damn!" the other slammed his fist on the desk; to calm himself down, he took a puff at his cigar, reclined his head, and blew out the smoke. "This can't be a coincidence. Newman was a seasoned spy, one of the best. And now he's dead!" he paused, taking a deep breath. "This was work of the CCI. Yes, they must've sent one of their own agents to retrieve their stolen data."

Another puff. "Did you search the room?"

"Actually" the man who talked before continued, "we found this on his body." he once again pulled out something from his pocket; this time it was a small flash drive.

"What is it?"

"We don't know. Maybe those files are stored in here. We've tried to connect it to his computer, but it needed a password."

"Let me have a look at it."

He put his cigar on the ashtray, and grabbed the flash drive from the black man. There was a white skull-like logo on its back.

"Yes...I knew he had a backup plan! The data we need is indeed here!"

He turned to the two men, who were looking at the small storage device.

"Good Job. You can go now."

Without another word, the two raised up and left the office. Once he was alone, the man contemplated the precious object. Finally, after a long waiting, the top secrets projects of Capsule Corporation were in his hands.

But was it true? Were they really inside the flash drive? What if it was actually empty?

To check it out, he needed to discover the password.

_Mmmhhh...Maybe there's a clue in Newman's dossier, _he thought, lightly rubbing his chin. But first, he wanted to make sure the the eggheads at the lab were not having any problem.

He pressed a button on a desk mounted intercom, and spoke up: "What's the situation in the lab, doc?"

_"Everything is under control, boss."_ a distorted voice came out of the device. _"Power levels are back to normal, and most of our equipment can still be operated."_

"Good. And how is that little research going?"

_"We're still working on it, but it will take some time. Why, do we have those blueprints already?"_

"Maybe. Get back to work for now, I'll call you later." With that, the man released the button, ending the call. He grabbed the still lit cigar, putting it in his mouth, and assumed a relaxed posture.

_This fucking dome is a real pain in the ass, it's really going to slow us down if it doesn't go away soon. But at least, HE is trapped as well._

Taking a long drag, he closed his eyes, picturing the moment he'll finally crush his mortal enemy.

_You won't escape me. I'll humiliate you just like you did with me, and then I'll kill you before the eyes of the people you swore to protect!_

* * *

Gohan woke up to the sound of birds chirping on a tree right outside the open window. He snorted, realizing it must've stayed like that for the whole night, explaining why he felt so cold. After all, it was the middle of March.

Stretching his arms, his foggy brain slowly scanned the surroundings. He didn't have a chance to take a proper look at the room when he arrived last night, so at first the young half-Saiyan was unsure of his whereabouts; however, after a few seconds he remembered he was at Videl's house.

He sat on the side of the bed, looking at the alarm clock to check the time, but the thing was clearly broken, as the numbers on the display were frozen at 18:01.

Unsure of what to do, he decided to get up and see if Videl was awake. As he walked towards the door, he welcomed a renewed energy flowing in his body. He had slept well, and it showed: no longer did he feel as weak and miserable as yesterday.

Opening the door, he heard noises coming from downstairs...and the sweet, intoxicating smell of...pancakes?

Without a second thought, Gohan quickly descended the stairs and, following the appealing smell, made his way to the kitchen. There, he found Videl sitting at the table, reading a book.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" she said, raising her gaze. "I made you breakfast." She nonchalantly pointed to a plate of pancakes and one fried egg, and a jug of orange juice.

Gohan immediately sat down and started stuffing his mouth with the food, and in a minute he'd devoured everything.

"Ahhh...now I feel better. Thank you Videl!"

"Gee, Gohan, don't your parents let you eat?" asked an astonished Videl.

"Nah, I was just very hungry, hehehe." he replied with his trademark grin. However his smile soon vanished, as he suddenly realized his mother didn't know why he never made it back from school.

_She's probably worried to death by now, and there's no way I can reassure her. I only hope she finds out what happened here._

"What's wrong, Gohan?" the girl asked, noticing his worried expression.

"I was thinking of my family. They live far from here, so maybe they didn't hear of what's been going on, and must be worried that I didn't come back. I only hope they're alright."

"Don't worry, I'm sure they are." She said, putting the book on the table. Then, she got up, reached for the radio on the counter, and turned it on.

"It's almost time for the morning bulletin." she explained. "I hope they'll tell us good news."

"What time is it?" he asked, with a note of worry in his voice. He'd just remembered of his conversation with Vegeta the night before.

"It's half past ten."

"Crap." he muttered, mentally slapping himself for his negligence. Why didn't he wake up earlier?

_I'm so dead._ he thought. Vegeta was a man of his word; once he sensed his ki, he'd immediately rush in his location, regardless of where or who he was with. And having him blast a hole in the wall and ravage the house was definitely not the best way to repay Videl of her hospitality.

"What?"

"...nothing!" he quickly replied, suppressing his spiritual energy; maybe it wasn't too late...

He then focused on Vegeta's ki signature, trying to pinpoint his current location.

Strangely, he just couldn't sense him anywhere.

_Ah man, what now?_ _Is he hiding himself too?_ _Maybe he's trying to sneak up on me, _but he knew that wasn't Vegeta's style at all. But his train of thought was cut off when a familiar voice spoke from the radio.

_"Goooood morning Satan City! I'm your host Erasa, and since the other Djs are stuck outside what is now officially called "The Dome", I'll be your your only friendly voice here on KOSH until things get better. Which, however, it's not likely to happen anytime soon."_

A tense silence fell on the room as the two teens waited for the upcoming news.

"_That's right folks. There have been reports of men in hazmat suits on the other side of the Dome yesterday in the late evening, apparently conducting experiments on its invisible surface. But it was not until today that a large military camp was formally established in the plains west of the Parkside neighborhood. We've managed to intercept their radio frequency, and it seems that even with their superior equipment, their attempts at tearing down the Dome have proven unsuccessful so far."_

Videl clenched her fists hard, but Gohan was completely unimpressed by the bad news: ever since his Kamehameha wave fiasco, he knew the Dome would not surrender to the use of brute force.

_"...have been put on hold, and a change in strategy will surely be discussed. And that's all with the outside news for now. As for Satan City itself, the mayor has declared the state of emergency, and the police department is organizing full-time patrols throughout the city as a measure to cope with security alarms failures, since many buildings are left without electricity. Moving on;_

_"No one ever wants to hear about death, but sadly this is part of our reality, so here goes: the death toll of yesterday's accidents continues to rise as a wrecked hovercar was found in a ditch near Route 59, along with the dead bodies of its two passengers, bringing the total to 34. Once again we remind you that there is no way of leaving the city, so if you were planning to escape with your car, or jet-copter, or by any other means, don't do it. It will only result in your death."_

"Wow, I never heard Erasa talking like this. She's so serious!" Gohan said.

"Yeah, she's really dedicated to her job."

_"And now, we have a special message to the superhero known as the Great Saiyaman by the police chief himself: Saiyaman, if you're listening to this, please come over to my office as soon as you can. We would really appreciate it if you could help us."_

Just then, Videl's watch started beeping.

"Chief, what's up?"

_"Videl, is Saiyaman with you?"_

Gohan started toying nervously with his fork, but thankfully she didn't seem to notice.

"...no. Why do you ask me?"

_"I thought you knew. You two seem to get along pretty well."_

Videl gnashed her teeth, anger quickly kicking in: "I have nothing to do with that arrogant freak, he just happens to show up wherever I am!" she almost screamed.

_"Calm down Videl, I was only joking!"_

"Is that why you called me?"

_"Actually, I need both of you; I just don't know how to contact Saiyaman. Hopefully he heard my message on the radio."_

Videl took a deep breath, waiting for the chief to explain the reason of the call; unbeknownst to her, Gohan straightened up, interested as well.

_"Hold on a second, one of the rookies has just rushed in."_ For a while, all they could hear were distant voices in the background, but they couldn't understand a word of their discussion. Then, the firm voice of chief Drake spoke up again: _"Sorry Videl, something big is happening, and I have to go check it out. I'll call you later!"_

"Wait, what..."

But the chief had already hung up. Videl lowered her arm, visibly irritated: she hated to be cast aside like a little helpless girl.

The news bulletin had ended during the brief call, and now the air was filled with some sweet, relaxing guitar chords.

"So, uhm...what now?" Gohan asked, unsure of what to do. He still couldn't sense Vegeta, which was starting to worry him; he could retrieve his Saiyaman outfit and patrol the city, but his disappearance would look suspicious, especially now that he was with Videl.

"I don't know. We can take a walk around the city, see what's going on. Anything but stay here doing nothing." she said, clearing the table.

"Sounds good to me. But first I'd like to take a shower."

"Oh, right. You know where the bathroom is. I'll be waiting here."

Gohan nodded, and made his way upstairs. Once inside the bathroom, he stripped off his clothes and underwear, and entered the cabin. As the hot stream of water made contact with his rough skin, he suddenly felt two strong presences not too far: one of them was Vegeta.

The other was his little brother, Goten.

* * *

Vegeta woke up on the soft grass, trembling and sweating heavily. He slowly raised himself from the ground, clinging to a nearby tree. Once he got up, he rested his back on the trunk; he felt too weak to stand up on his own.

_Damn it!_

He still couldn't believe it: one moment he was sitting on a rock waiting for the brat, when he heard it again.

The long, sinister, unnerving laughter. Only this time, it was ten times louder.

The next moment, everything around him disappeared: the sky, the grass, the trees, even the same rock he was sitting on. It was like the hyperbolic time chamber, only difference it was black.

Then the laughter ceased, and for a moment everything was quiet. But it didn't last long: out of nowhere, a giant face appeared before his eyes, one he hadn't seen for years: Kakarot's face. But there was something odd: he sported an unnatural wry grin, and when he spoke his voice was harsh, not cheerful and happy as it had always been.

"You'll never beat me, Vegeta, you're a poor excuse for a Saiyan prince. Even my son had surpassed you: you're so weak." he mocked him.

Vegeta didn't know how he felt: confused, angry, even afraid. Then another face popped up next to his rival's, the face on another one who had humiliated his pride, another one whom he'd never beaten: Cell.

At this point, Vegeta had started shooting ki blasts at them, but they went through: the faces multiplied, growing bigger, and soon the entire area was overwhelmed by dozens of Kakarots and Cells, all laughing and making fun of him.

"What's wrong, Prince of Saiyans? Can't you even hit us now?" was one of Cell's taunts.

Knowing he couldn't stop them, he'd tried to fly away, but no matter how fast, they were always popping around him, constantly ridiculing him.

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

And finally, the anguished vision had come to an end, and he'd found himself lying on the ground, completely worn-out as if he'd just finished another training session in the Gravity Room.

_What's happening to me? I've never experienced something like this!_

He was in the real world now, recovering from his strange vision, but he felt somewhat uneasy. Worried that all this happened without warning, and could likely happen anytime soon. Worried that it might be related to the Dome somehow. And ultimately, worried about his mental health.

Yes, because the vision had left him with strange thoughts. It was nothing new actually, as the seeds of those feelings were already in his mind. But now they've grown more intense, and he could feel them all at once.

Paranoia, sorrow, rage, a desire to fight, to destroy everything, thoughts of death, of the otherworld, his primal Saiyan instincts awakening, Kakarot...a real hurricane of madness was twisting in his head.

_No, focus Vegeta, focus. You're trapped under this Dome, this is your only concern, those...things you feel, they have nothing to do with the situation!_

But the chaos was unbearable, he was fighting so hard, yet he couldn't clean his mind...

"I AM A SAIYAN! I WON'T LET EMOTIONS GET IN MY WAAAYYYYY!" he shouted at the top his lungs. Clenching his fists, he powered up as a golden aura engulfed him, turning into a Full-Power Super Saiyan.

A few months after the Cell Games, he'd managed to fully master his Super Saiyan form, much like his rival had previously done. No longer feeling the physical strain in maintaining the form and with his mind at ease, he now used it regularly even outside of training, constantly reaching new records in keeping transformed.

This, combined with his own pride, finally prompted him to retake control over his feelings. He brought his hands on his cheeks, and slowly rubbed his face.

_This is what happens when you get soft. Hmph._ He'd regained his usual confidence. Trying hard to ignore the restlessness deep in his heart, he looked up at the sky, trying to figure out how much time had passed.

The sun was higher than before: this meant he must've been out for at least one hour, if not longer.

_I bet that slacker is still in dreamland. Time to bring him back to reality!_

Thinking of the roughest possible way to wake that wastrel up to keep his own mind busy, he took off to the sky. In his ears, the ghost of the hated, crazy laughter still resounded, clearly as ever.

* * *

Having put his clothes back on, Gohan opened the window and flew away, leaving the bathroom door locked.

_Better make this quick before Videl decides to check on me._

He was flying in the direction of Goten, mainly because he was the nearest, but also because he represented the only way to communicate with the outside, hence his mother.

In less than a minute, the unmistakable spiky hairstyle was within sight: he was floating some 30 feet above the ground, and was holding his nose with both hands. As he neared, he saw a steady flow of blood trickling through his fingers, and deduced he must've broken it when he hit the barrier.

As soon as they were face to face, Goten wiped off the blood and screamed in surprise; but no sound came out of his mouth.

"Goten?" he asked.

His little brother was apparently speaking, but Gohan couldn't hear a word of what he said: it was like watching a fish in an aquarium.

"What, so the Dome is ALSO sound-proof? Wonderful..." he said to himself. Apparently, Goten had realized it as well, as he stopped his voiceless rambling and gave him a puzzled look.

"Goten, look at me" he said, pointing at his lips, "there is a barrier" he pointed at the Dome, "encircling" he draw a big circle with his fingers, "the whole city." he pointed his thumb at the town behind his shoulders, hoping he would understand. Goten widened his eyes, but moved his head up and down, though he still seemed confused.

Having a conversation based solely on gestures was too hard to explain everything in detail. Gohan racked his brain, trying to come up with a better alternative: he thought about using a notepad to write quick sentences, but it would take too much time, especially because it wasn't a one-way conversation; he knew Goten had his share of news to tell, especially from their mother.

Then he considered telepathy: that would have been practical. There was a problem, though: Goten didn't know how to do it.

But someone else did. The same person that had taught him the technique a long time ago.

"Goten" he pointed his finger at him, "you have to find Mr. Piccolo" he put his indexes over his forehead, roughly mimicking his antennae, "and bring him here!" he vigorously pointed downwards.

When Goten just stared at him blankly, he flew to a near tree, removed a leaf, and returned to his brother.

"The green man, remember?" he swung the leaf right in front of his eyes.

_Man, this is so awkward..._

At that, Goten finally seemed to understand. He nodded, waved his bloodstained hand, and took off to the sky.

Gohan decided to get back to Videl's house, knowing Piccolo would immediately contact him when he was close enough. But at that moment, wrapped in a flaming aura, Vegeta arrived, blocking his way.

_Uh oh...he looks a bit upset..._

"Brat! We had a meeting!"

"Sorry Vegeta, but I woke up a bit late, and..."

Suddenly the Saiyan screamed in pain, grasping his head and kicking hard.

"Vegeta!"

But after a few seconds, he stopped screaming and resumed his stance.

"Vegeta...are you okay?"

"Of course I am! Don't...try to change the subject, I still...want an explanation!" he said, panting heavily.

"All right, if you say so...anyway, Goten just came, and..."

The loud crack of a thunder shook the air, and a lightning bolt hit a tree not too far from them, setting it on fire. At the same time, raindrops started falling as more and more dark clouds appeared literally out of nowhere, covering the clear sky and casting darkness over the city.

"What...how could it be?" Gohan shouted, as a strong blast of wind caught him by surprise, almost making him lose his balance. "The Dome is supposed to shield us from elements!"

"It's not raining on the outside, look!" Vegeta pointed to the sunny sky on the other side of the barrier, completely unaffected by the storm. It was like being inside a snowglobe.

"Impossible!"

They both summoned energy shields to protect themselves from the dense rain, however the worsening weather conditions were reducing visibility, to the point they could no longer see the skyline of the city. Another lightning struck the ground a couple feet away.

"We can't stay out in the open, we need to find shelter!" Gohan screamed over the loud noises of the storm.

"It's not so bad actually!" Vegeta replied; he was using his ki to warm himself.

"Not so bad? We can barely see or hear each other! Plus, we can easily get hit by one of those lightnings!"

This time, Vegeta did not answer. Another rumble was heard far in the distance.

"Come on, follow me." Gohan darted forward, in the direction of Videl's house. Vegeta hesitated, then, with his typical "Hmph.", reluctantly chased after the half-Saiyan. Gohan slowed down a little to remain within earshot.

"We're going to a friend's house. I'll enter through a window, you just knock at the front door, I'll tell her you're a friend of mine."

"We're not friends, you fool, we're just..." but Gohan never heard the rest of the sentence as another sharp crack covered his words.

They remained silent throughout the short trip. A minute later they arrived at Satan's mansion. Gohan rapidly jumped into the still open window of the bathroom, and turned his head to face Vegeta.

His eyes widened in surprise when he saw he was not outside.

"Vegeta! Were are you!" he screamed, leaning out the window. "Vegeta! Vegeta!"

There was no answer. Vegeta had disappeared again.

* * *

Author's note: as you noticed, I decided to render Goten already able to fly, in order to make him fit better with the story.

Now I have a question for you: last week, I had an idea about a story I want to write. It will be set in the Alternate Timeline where the androids killed the Z Fighters, with Future Gohan (my favorite character by the way) struggling with a strange disease...but enough spoilering.

The question is: should I start writing it down, working on two stories at the same time, or should I only focus on this one for now?

Let me know your answer in your review!


	6. Unexpected meetings

Author's note: I am terribly sorry for the late update, but between school, my new part-time job and speech lessons, my writing time has been drastically reduced. However, know that, no matter what happens, I will never give up. Enjoy the long awaited chapter 6!

To ShadowMario3: yes, it's safe to assume that Vegeta got stronger than Gohan, though not that much. This will be very important later in the story...

To Saiyan-Styles: Vegeta has witnessed the military's futile attempts at digging, and he must have concluded that the Dome ran several miles underground and completely encompassed the city, leaving no way out. He then told Gohan about his findings.

To angelnieves.1656: as usual, thanks for your funny review! As for the disturbance, maybe this chapter will answer that question...

And finally, to everyone that answered my poll: you're right, it's better if I focus only on one story for now. Oh well, my other idea will have to wait...but maybe it's for the best.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

Videl was looking out of the window with furrowed brows, stunned by the violent storm that raged over the city.

_I just don't understand. I thought nothing could pass through the Dome, not even the wind. So how does it rain?_

It was getting darker, and it wasn't even noon. Soon she'd be forced to turn on the lights, and that meant consuming precious fuel of the emergency generator. And though there were still considerable stocks of propane left, it wasn't a good excuse to waste it all for superficial things. She had to save it as much as possible, for it seemed this Dome was not going to go away anytime soon.

Instead, she walked up to the brick fireplace, grabbed a pack of matches from the table, and struck one of it. She tossed the lit match onto the stacked pile of wood; slowly, the flame began to grow while Videl helped it with a pair of bellows. Eventually, the fire became big enough that it didn't need her help anymore, and the girl sat on the couch, her eyes fixed at the hypnotizing flames dancing over the grate, providing a warm light in the cold and dark living room.

She didn't know how much time had passed when the sound of footsteps snapped her out of the trance; turning her head, she saw the slender outline of Gohan emerging from the shadows.

"You sure took your time for a quick shower, mister!" she jokingly exclaimed. Gohan smiled lightly, and sat down on the other couch. The house was silent, and they could hear the howling wind and the cracks of the thunderstorm outside.

"Man, look at that." Gohan was looking out of the window. "At this rate, Downtown will be flooded in minutes!"

"Well, I guess we'll have to wait until the storm calms down before going out." Videl sentenced.

They both gazed at the crackling fire, and for a while non of them dared to do or say anything; this reminded Videl of yesterday's talk with Saiyaman. She slowly turned her eyes on Gohan's face: he was still looking at the fireplace, and didn't seem to notice he was being examined. He had a serious expression, yet he looked so relaxed...was he smiling?

Yes: for a moment, his lips had curled into a weak smile. _I wonder what is he thinking..._

Videl couldn't help but notice his resemblance with the Gold Fighter/ Saiyaman...though he was not blonde, but didn't the Gold Fighter say something about how that wasn't his usual look?

"Uhm, Videl, isn't your watch beeping?" Gohan asked, suddenly turning his head to face her. Then she heard it: she was so lost in thought, she didn't even hear the damn thing ringing on her wrist.

"This is Videl!"

_"Videl! You have to come here fast! There's a bzzzz..."_ The signal was disturbed by the bad weather conditions.

"Chief? What's going on, I can't hear you!"

_"bzzz...there's so many of them, we cabzzz...now!"_

"Where are you, what's happening?"

_"...-sive jailbreak! Get..."_ But then, the communication abruptly ended.

"Did he say jailbreak?" Gohan asked: he looked a tad worried.

"I guess so...Great! The prison is on the other side of the city, and it's raining like hell! I'm gonna get soaked!"

"Don't you have a jet copter or something?"

Videl rolled her eyes. "Gohan, there's a hurricane out there, it would be a suicide to fly!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about it. Hey, what about a car?"

"A car?"

"Yeah, surely you have one, don't you?"

"Well, now that you mention it, my dad does keep a couple of sports cars in the garage, apart from the limousine. Not that he uses them, he hardly drives at all. That's actually a good idea, I don't think he'll notice if I borrowed one of his cars!"

She swiftly jumped up, grabbed a black leather jacket from the coat-hanger and was already halfway to the door when she stopped and turned around.

"Aren't you coming?"

Gohan, who was still resting near the fireplace, widened his eyes. "Me?" he asked, obviously astonished. Their glances met, and for a moment time seemed to froze. However, Videl quickly recovered. "What am I saying, of course you're not, this is really dangerous. No offense but it's best if you stay here..." she said, looking away from the teenager.

"Yeah, sounds good to me!" he replied, stretching his arms. "Well, good luck, I guess..."

"See you later." As she ran past a mirror, she noticed her cheeks had turned slightly red. Shaking her head, she mentally slapped herself for that, hoping Gohan hadn't noticed it.

* * *

Floating mid-air on his favourite spot, Piccolo was in deep meditation, his body surrounded by a whitish aura. His mind was in a mystical dimension, a dimension where everything was possible, where he could seek the answers to his questions, where he could push his body beyond every limit, where he could revive events of the past, understand the present, and, with a bit of luck, uncover the mysteries of the future. He could hear nothing but his own heartbeat, yet he was perfectly aware of his surroundings, particularly thanks to his Namekian hearing. Therefore, he had already sensed a vaguely familiar ki way before it approached the Lookout, but he had quickly dismissed it, not wanting to let it interfere with his inner training. After all, it was Dende's job to greet and take care of visitors - namely, the Z-Fighters. And so, when the newcomer finally set foot on the sacred platform, he continued to ignore it, focusing solely on his meditation. He had been doing it for three days straight, and though he was starting to feel tired, he could not give up now: never had his inner spirits been so balanced, and he was so close to reach a new level of consciousness...he could already grasp the light of revelation, all he needed was a little push...

"MISTER PICCOLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"ARGH!"

Completely caught off guard, the Namekian fell on the ground, his weighted turban slipping over his face.

_Damn it. I was so close!_

Fuming, he threw the turban away, and slowly raised up to face the harasser, only to find it was a certain spiky-haired little kid. His face had "fear" written all over, very much resembling his older brother during the months he'd been training under his wing; it was probably because of his pissed look on his face, along with his intimidating appearance and the fact that neither of them knew the other well enough. They had only met twice before, when Piccolo went to check up on his former apprentice, and never really spent time on getting to know each other.

_His name is Goten, if I remember correctly..._

"Mr. Piccolo? I-I'm sorry, really..."

"Just speak up. Must be something important, if you came all the way here." he said with his deep voice. _You better hope it is._

"It's about my brother...he's stuck into a giant bubble!"

"What? Explain yourself better!"

And so, Goten went on to explain everything that had happened since then: how his brother did not come back from school as usual, how their mother was so worried, to the point she'd called Bulma to ask her if she knew where he was, how she told her that even Vegeta had yet to come back from a "routine errand" from Satan City, how they heard from the TV that "something very strange" was going on in the city, and finally how Goten decided to investigate, leaving her mother behind, and met Gohan behind the strange, invisible barrier.

"...and so he told me to bring you there!"

Piccolo was shocked: how could something like this happen under their nose? Why didn't Dende warn him about...

_Wait. Where is Dende?_

He slightly wobbled his antennae, searching for his ki signature: he was, together with Popo, inside the Palace. But there was something strange about it...

_Don't tell me he did it again!_

He ran to the entrance of the building, with the half-saiyan kid following him, and entered a small room: Dende was lying on a white bed, a retarded expression pasted on his face, singing a slow lullaby in an annoying high pitched tone, interrupted by the occasional *hick*; on his side, Popo was sitting on a chair, tending to his master, holding a bucket filled with Dende-knew-what (Literally); judging by the awful stench, it was better to be kept in the dark.

"Popo! How?"

"I'm sorry Piccolo, I didn't know. He said he was going to check on the food supply yesterday night, and-"

"You irresponsible idiot!" he said, grabbing the other Namekian by the collar, "You're the Guardian! You're supposed to watch over the Earth, not spend your time getting drunk!" He shook him furiously, trying to get a reaction, but Dende merely blathered: "Hi Piccolo, *hick* you look worried, friend, why don't you *hick*, why don't you lay down and relax, we're on a beautiful shit, I mean ship *hick*."

Growling, Piccolo threw him down again and turned to Popo. "How long?"

"He was already like this when I found him this morning. He was inside one of the bushes."

A terrible thought crossed his mind. "When was it the last time you saw him?"

"It was yesterday night, and he looked fine..."

"Yesterday night, you say..." According to Goten, Gohan and Vegeta were already missing at the time...and the TV broadcast about Satan City had been transmitted earlier, probably in the evening...

He sighed: at least Dende's drunkenness had nothing to do with it. But then, what caused this crazy thing to happen?

"Popo, are we there yet? Are we at *hick* Papaya Island?" Piccolo gave the wasted Namekian a disgusted look.

"Uhm, mr. Piccolo?" Goten said with his timid voice, tugging at his cape. "Shouldn't we go and help my big brother?"

As annoying as the kid was, he was right, they were just wasting time. "I'll deal with you later." he said to Dende, who was too busy describing Popo how this was his best vacation ever to pay attention to his words. He then left the room and, along with Goten, launched himself in the clear sky, heading west.

_Hold on Gohan, I'm coming._

* * *

_Perfect._

Now that he was alone, Gohan could safely leave the house without having to worry about Videl. He had already prepared a plan: go back to school, retrieve his Saiyaman disguise, and help Videl with the jailbreak situation, while keeping an eye out for Vegeta at the same time.

Immediately after Videl left, he opened one of the windows and jumped out into the raging storm, using his energy to keep himself dry. In a minute, he reached the familiar building, and once again entered from the open door on the roof. Though the school was officially closed because of the emergency, there were a handful of people scattered throughout the building; he could feel Erasa's ki in the radio station and a group of two or three boys in a classroom on the first floor, but there was nothing to fear. He wouldn't fall asleep again.

He reached his locker, and opened it: his outfit was still there, carefully folded over a shelf. He quickly put it on, replacing the empty spot with the training clothes he was wearing.

_Man, I wish I still had my Saiyaman watch._

He was about to close the door, when something grabbed his attention: it was a small beige case, half covered between two large books. He grabbed it; there was something inside. He opened the case, spilling its content on his open palm: it was a pair of black sunglasses.

He instantly recognized them: those were Sharpner's glasses. One day he'd asked Gohan to keep them while he went off to the local swimming pool at the end of the lessons; since then he'd never asked for them back, and both boys had completely forgotten about it...until now.

His first instinct was to return them to their rightful owner, but then something popped up in his head: now that he had broken his helmet, he needed something to conceal his face while in his transformed state, especially if he got too close to Videl...

Yes, those sunglasses were the perfect solution! Promising himself to give them back to Sharpner eventually, he store them underneath his green vest; right now, it was still raining.

He powered up to his Super Saiyan form and ran up the stairs, and with a golden blast he took off.

_Next stop: the prison!_

But he didn't know where it was, so he decided to pick up Videl's ki and follow her from a distance. He was now flying upwind, which slowed him down, and with the thick rain hindering his vision, he had a hard time locating her position; finally, when he was close enough, he saw a lone car driving along the street, and concluded it was her.

_Still no sign of Vegeta, _he thought, worried about the Saiyan. _He didn't seem to feel very good when I saw him, but of course he wouldn't admit it. Maybe he just passed out?_

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when something hard collided with his face, sending him flying backwards several yards before he stopped. Rubbing his face, he noticed something approaching from the left: through the heavy rain, a humanoid silhouette was slowly shortening the distance between them; as he got nearer, Gohan could gradually examine his appearance: he wore a blue jumpsuit of some sort, with white gloves and boots, and a golden chest-plate on his torso. His head was abnormally long, with a golden protuberance like the chestplate, and he had green eyes without irises and a large mouth.

Gohan knew one thing for sure: this creature was obviously not human. And since he could feel his energy, he was not an android either, which left only one possibility: he was an alien.

"Who are you?" he shouted when the alien was near enough. The latter didn't answer, instead he tilted his head on one side and grinned.

"I see...you don't talk much, do you?" Gohan said, shaking his head. Surprisingly, the other replied: "Only when I want to" with a slightly arrogant voice.

"...then why did you attack me?"

Once again, the alien grinned. Then, he almost instantly charged at the half-Saiyan with great speed.

"Ok, if that's the way you want it..." Gohan muttered, readying himself to welcome the attack. He dodged a frontal punch and caught another aimed at his face, and proceeded to either block or evade the following blows. The mysterious alien was fast, but Gohan in his Super Saiyan form was faster. After dodging a particularly slow kick, he countered with a punch of his own, which the alien narrowly avoided; the next one hit him straight in the stomach, leaving him temporarily stunned. Taking advantage of this, Gohan struck him repeatedly, and with a final kick sent him crashing to the ground into a puddle of mud. The boy landed a few feet away, eyes focused on his opponent.

"I suggest you give up and tell me your intentions. I don't really enjoy fighting, even less when it's raining, but if you don't stop you leave me with no choice." he spat, watching as the alien slowly rose and wiped the mud off his chestplate. From the look on his face, he was clearly not amused.

"You're strong, but that doesn't mean anything. In the end, we're still going to win anyway!" he proclaimed.

"We? What do you mean? Are there more of your kind out there?"

"Of course. And even if I fail, they're going to crush you!"

_Is this some kind of an alien invasion? Mmmhhh...I wonder if it has something to do with the Dome..._

"So where are they? Why aren't they here to help you?"

"Don't worry, they will find you when the time is right." he retorted, assuming a battle stance.

"When the time is right? What's that supposed to mean?" The more this mysterious alien spoke, the less he knew.

"Hehehe..." The alien disappeared; Gohan heard something move behind him, and turned around just in time to dodge an incoming elbow.

"Don't you know when to quit?" Gohan asked rhetorically as he jumped on the left, intercepting a punch with one of his own. They continued to exchange blows for a while, though Gohan eventually gained the upper hand. His prolonged onslaught pushed the alien towards the concrete wall of a nearby building, forcing him to retreat up in the air. As the half-Saiyan looked up in his direction, the sudden flash of a lightning blinded him, incapacitating his vision temporarily; by the time his eyes re-adapted to the light, he had lost track of the alien's position.

_Damn it, where is he now?_

The answer came from the sky - literally - as a yellow sphere of energy entered his field of vision, descending at high speed towards him. It was too close to be avoided, so the young boy raised his arms in front of him in a cross and took the blast head on. The explosion that followed made his skin burn like hell, but overall he didn't suffer any serious damage. However, just as the smoke cleared, he spotted three more ki blasts coming in his direction. He quickly flew out of the way as the blasts crashed to the ground, forming small craters and damaging a building.

_I'd better get this over with before things get out of hand, _he thought, seeing as the alien was not over yet with his offensive. He flew high in the sky, challenging the strong winds, in order to spare that part of the city from further destruction. He performed large concentric circles around his opponent while still dodging his attacks, until they were no more distant than a few feet. Then at the last moment, he inadvertently changed his course and flew straight towards him, catching him by surprise. He hit him hard on the jaw with a strong uppercut that sent him flying, then quickly put one hand forward and shoot a powerful energy beam. In a fraction of second, the beam pierced through the alien's shoulder, then followed his course forward, enlightening the dark sky. The wounded creature, now too weak to fly, started falling, and it would surely have died, had Gohan not intervened, grabbing him moments before he crashed on the hard asphalt, breaking his bones. The boy carefully placed him on the ground: he'd never wanted to kill him, he'd just incapacitated him so he could interrogate him.

"You should have followed my warning and surrendered when you had the chance. If you did, you wouldn't be in this condition now."

"He...he...he...you still don't get it, do you? Hehe..." the alien said, breathing heavily.

"What?"

"I only fought you...to test your strength...now the others know what they're up against...hehehe..."

"They saw our battle? Where are they?"

"Far from here...but soon,they...*cough cough*...they'll come...hehehe...and they're far stronger than me!"

"I sure hope so, you weren't really much of a challenge actually."

"Haha, very funny" he coughed some blood. "Joke all you want, you're the one who's going to die next! *cough* You can't stop us!"

"We'll see about that." Gohan replied, though he sounded more confident than he really was. If an alien invasion was actually taking place, they were going to have some big problems. What if they were responsible for the appearance of the Dome? What if Satan City was not their only target, what if they had placed a Dome on every important city in the world? What if they were already conquering the Earth, and there was no one to stop them? He though about Goten, Piccolo, Krillin and the others...

But those were only hypothesis; things could be much different...maybe this strange alien was bluffing...but why would he do that?

Nothing made sense to him, not even the weather. In fact, a minute earlier the winds had calmed down, the rain had stopped falling, and now the dark clouds were slowly disappearing, allowing the sun rays to warm the cold environment a little.

"Enjoy the sun while you can...'cause it's the last one you'll ever see! Hehehehe..."

"Look who's talking, you're the one with the big bleeding hole in the shoulder, not me!"

"At least I am not alone...what about you? What happened to your friend Vegeta?" he asked, as an arrogant smirk formed on his face.

Gohan was completely shocked. "What? How...what do you know about him?"

"Hehehehehe..."

The half-Saiyan grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him vigorously. "Answer me! What happened to Vegeta?"

"Can't tell you now, they're coming here...to get me...don't you see them? *cough cough*"

"You're crazy, there's no one around here except us, we're alone!" But to his surprise, he realized his body was slowly fading away.

_What? How is this possible?_

"I am never...alone!" he shouted: with that, he disappeared completely, and now Gohan's hand were holding onto thin air.

"I can't believe it..." he muttered, slowly raising up. "What's with everyone disappearing lately? Vegeta, the alien...it doesn't make sense!"

Turning his head toward the horizon, he saw two columns of smoke in the distance. Something popped up in his brain as he was suddenly reminded of his job: he had to go to the prison and contain the jailbreak!

_Oh no, Videl! I gotta help her out!_

He didn't know how much time had passed: for all he knew, the police may have already taken care of the escaped convicts...or not, which was most likely, considering their degree of incompetence.

He pulled out his new pair of shades and put them on, checking his reflection on the window of a nearby car: _Man, I'm so cool!_

Then, powering up, he readied himself to take off, when suddenly a deep and familiar voice resounded in his head: _"Gohan, can you hear me?"_

* * *

Sitting on a bench with a gym bag under his legs, Sharpner watched as people walked down the busy street, some going to work, some doing shopping, and some just strolling, enjoying the morning breeze.

He snorted, cursing once again the ridiculous situation; after finally having accepted the harsh reality that they were all trapped under a giant bubble with no way out, he'd decided to spend the morning doing the one thing he truly liked: working out at the local gym. There was something in his daily training that put his mind at ease, making him temporarily forget of all his problems. If he was really going to spend a long time trapped in a place with no phones, no computers, no TVs and especially no school or any other responsibility, there was no other place he wanted to be. So, when he found out that morning that his favorite gym was closed for lack of electricity and water, it pissed him off to no end. He had then resorted to go jogging at the park, but he was too angry to really enjoy it, and so, after a couple minutes, he'd decided to stop and sit down on a bench, hoping to get some good ideas on what to do.

He was thinking about going to see Erasa at the radio station when he heard somebody calling his name: "Hey, Sharpner!"

Turning around, he saw a tall and robust man with brown hair in a green shirt approaching him. He immediately recognized him as Jimbo, a member of the Red Shark Gang, and right now one of the few persons he absolutely didn't want to see.

_Oh, shit. Of all people, why him?_

The man was frowning, something Sharpner expected. What he didn't expect was to find him in this part of the city: he usually hung out with his "friends" in East Side, one of the most dangerous neighborhood of Satan City.

"Oh, uhm...hey there Jimbo! Long time no see!" he greeted the man , trying not to sound nervous.

"Indeed..." The man placed himself in front of the blonde teenager, who had quickly gotten up and seemed ready to run away. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked, placing one hand on his shoulder.

"Who, me? Nowhere, I just..."

"Good. Because we have something important to talk about...right?"

"Uh...do we?"

"Don't play stupid with me, kid! You know exactly what I'm talking about!" he almost shouted, making Sharpner tremble. "Where is my money?"

_Shit, shit, shit!_ "Oh, yeah, your money. Well, I...you see, we're living through hard times and, you know how it is, things are slower and-"

"Cut the shit!" He grabbed the boy by his collar. "You owe me 60000 Zenie, and I want them know!"

"Hey, c-come on Jimbo, it's only been, like, a month. You can't seriously expect me to find all that money in so little-"

"Enough with the bullshit! You had plenty of time, and now it's time to pay up!"

"B-but I don't have y-your money!" he said, trying to ease Jimbo's strong hold over his collar.

"Oh, you don't?" He rudely threw Sharpner back on the wooden bench with so much force that he tripped over and fell on the ground. His eyes then moved on his bag, which was laying near his shoes. "Let's see what you have in here." He opened it up and overturned it, making everything that was stored inside fall on the grass: a pair of sneakers, a zipped sweatshirt, a pair of shorts, a white towel, a small bottle of water and an mp3 player.

"I could really use some fresh water." He emptied the content of the bottle into his mouth, while Sharpner slowly raised himself from the ground.

"Hey, come on man, I told you I'm sorry! No need to turn violent all of a sudden!" he said, picking up his clothes and stuffing them back inside the bag. He then bent down to grab the mp3 player, but Jimbo preceded him.

"Let's see...hmph, this thing is so old, it's not even worth a single Zeni." He threw it on a nearby tree, where it crashed to pieces while Sharpner watched in horror.

"Hey, why did you do that? I had all my songs inside that- OOOF!" He didn't finish the sentence as a hard punch connected with his guts, taking his breath away. He heard Jimbo shouting: "Shut up!" while he grabbed his stomach in pain and fell down on his knees.

"You're a worthless piece of shit, but I'll give you another chance. You have one more week to scrape together the 60000 Zenie. If you don't" he pointed to the tree where the mp3 had met his end just moments before, "next time is your head that will break down to pieces. Got it?" Not even waiting for an answer, he spat on the ground and slowly started walking away from the boy, before he stopped again. "Oh, and by the way, don't even think of running away or hiding from us, we'll find you. The city is getting...smaller every day, know what I mean?" He winked, then finally turned around and walked away for good, leaving Sharpner suffering in silence, alone.

_Shit...I'm screwed!_

* * *

How was it? Like it? Hate it? Take your time and leave a review!

Also, If you could help me out in finding this story, I will be eternally grateful to you: topic/10749/95749594/1/Dragon-Ball-Z-Gohan-and-Vid el-in-the-Hyperbolic-Time-Chamber


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